Crash & Burn
by Indy Chance
Summary: One phone call tore their lives apart, pitted them against each other. How could any good possibly come from this? (Hint: Poor, poor Rowen...) [Complete!]
1. Chap. 1

Crash&Burn

Dedicated to Kee, T.J., and the CRWS. I think you can tell who you are. Love to ya!

"Gimme another one."

"Genichirou, I think you've had enough.Why don't we get you a ride home?"

"No.Gimme another one."

"Genichirou—"

"I said gimme another one!"

"Okay, man, okay."

Another shot glass was set before him.He poured some more whiskey into it and downed the liquid, relishing the burning sensation and the strangely delicious metallic taste.He'd broken the other shot glass when he'd thrown it at the wall.He'd been angry so he'd thrown it to release some of that anger.It hadn't helped much.

_'Why?How could she leave me like this?'_

He downed another shot, pulled out a piece of paper, and read it—again.

_Dear Genichirou-kun,_

_How are you? How's Touma? Or is he going by Rowen again? Is he still angry with me for not coming to visit last week? Anyway, just thought I'd write to tell you that I miss you guys. I wish you could be here. There's a great observational facility that I know Touma would just love. And there's a lab that you'd all but kill to see, Genichirou, knowing you. And then there's all this sun and scenery…it's just such a wonderful place!_

_Guess what? Don't tell Touma; I want it to be a surprise. I've gotten a couple weeks off and I've already booked a flight to Osaka. I'll be there in a few days. Remember, don't tell Touma!_

Well, I've still got loads to do before I can leave so I've got to go. Give my love to Touma! Love you lots!

_Sarah_

He threw the shot glass at the wall. The three other people at the bar jumped and stared at him. The bartender swallowed hard and got the broom to clean up the shards of glass. The three other people—a young man, an elderly fellow, and a young woman—got up and left. Genichirou grabbed the bottle and set to emptying it of its contents. More words pushed into his mind.

_"May I speak to a Hashiba Genichirou, please?"_

_"This is he."_

_"Sir, I was asked to call you. Do you know a Thompson, Sarah?"_

He finished off the bottle and bellowed for another. He took another swig.

_"Yes, why? Is something wrong?"_

He gulped down the whiskey and stood up shakily.

_"Sir, I'm sorry…"_

He stumbled out of the bar, and started walking. His apartment was only a few blocks away.

_"The plane crashed over the western coast…"_

He reached the building and took the elevator from the room beyond the lobby. The night-shift guard was dozing. The world was spinning. Things were odd shapes and colors. He could hardly stand up.

"Our crews have searched both on and offshore for the past 24 hours…" He made it down the hall and found his door. He fumbled with his key for a while, only to discover that the door wasn't locked. That meant that his son must be home. "Sir, I'm very sorry—" 

_"What happened to Sarah?!"_

_"…Sir…we found her this morning…"_

He practically fell through the door. He slammed it behind him. A framed picture on the wall crashed to the floor.

_"She was in bad shape. We did all we could but…she didn't make it."_

**"TOUMA!!!"**

* * * * * * * * *

"Kento, don't you dare!I swear, if you touch my lunch—"

"Okay, okay!Jeez, Cye.I won't move a muscle, see?"The stout Chinese boy crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.His British friend watched him with narrowed eyes.

"Ryo," Cye said to the black-haired boy on his left, "if the Bottomless Pit makes one move for my food, would you do me a favor?"

Ryo smiled."Like what?"

Cye got an inspired grin."Oh, I dunno.Perhaps…oooh, yes!How about what Mia did to Yuli the other day when he broke the clock in the library?"

Ryo's face lit up with a wicked smile…one Kento didn't think he liked.

"Guys, don't be silly.You wouldn't do that to me, Ryo," Kento said uncertainly."Would ya?"

Ryo just smiled and Cye grinned, stood, and said, "I'll be back in a while.Be a good boy, Kento, and Ryo won't have to punish you."He walked out of the cafeteria.

Kento watched his friend go.When he turned around again, he found himself looking straight into Ryo's fiery tiger-blue eyes.He gulped and turned his gaze to the blond boy sitting on Ryo's left."Sage—"

Sage shook his head, causing the hair covering one of his violet-blue eyes to swing back and forth."Hey, if Cye and Ryo deem spanking you a worthy punishment for starving Cye to death, that's your problem.Don't you think that that's _Justice_?" he said with nonchalance.

Kento glared at him."Well," he growled."Thank you for your _Wisdom_, Sage, but no—I don't think that's fair."He sulked in his chair for the next five minutes.

Cye came back and took his seat."Thanks, Ry."

"Sure.You can repay me when it's my turn to go find him," Ryo replied."So where was he this time?"

"Listening to the principal about taking classes at the university again, of course."

"And?"

"He said 'no', as usual.Anyway, Rowen said he'd be here in a while, had to go get something from Sensei Miroko first."

"Oh.Hey, Sage, ya gonna eat that?" Kento asked.

"No."Sage pushed the food in question across the table to Kento, who scarfed it down eagerly.Sage looked at Cye."Didn't you say you had him on a diet?"

"Yes, but I made the mistake of leaving him with his family at the restaurant.Even I can't help wanting to eat Mama Fuan's food.She must be one of the greatest cook's of our time," Cye commented."Though I'm told that Papa Fuan's even better.He just doesn't cook so often."

"Looth vout!" Kento tried to say through a mouthful of food.He had a panicky look.

"Huh?" all three of his friends asked…right before Ryo and Cye's chairs fell out from under them.Sage jumped up quickly and Kento started laughing.Cye stood up, brushing himself off, and blushing.Ryo just lay on the cafeteria floor, stunned and a bit confused, looking up at—

"Um, hi, Ro," Ryo said.

"Hi, Ry.Ya can consider that my repayment for that little prank you and Cye pulled on me yesterday."Rowen walked around the table and sat next to Kento, who was still laughing his head off.In fact, half the people in the cafeteria were laughing at the event.

"You mean revenge," Sage said, helping Ryo up.

Rowen shrugged."Same thing.But, yeah, I guess ya could call it revenge."He looked at Kento's plate and frowned."Ey, Kento, look!There's a fudge cake bein' served in the lunch line!"

"What?Where?" Kento turned to look at the aforesaid line.Rowen took the opportunity to grab several articles of food from Kento's stockpile.Kento turned back, looked at his tray, and glowered at Rowen."Hey!Whadja do that for?"

Rowen answered simply, "I'm hungry.You've got food; Sage gave ya his, Ryo already finished his, and Cye _needs_ to eat his.So, logically, I took some of yours."

"Why didn't you just buy your own?" asked Ryo.

"Umm…I don't have any money…" Rowen replied slowly.He didn't look up and started eating the food he'd taken.

Sage watched his best friend with a raised eyebrow.Something didn't feel right."Hey, Ro, why are you so hungry anyway?"

Rowen paused and answered slowly."Um…I forgot to eat breakfast this mornin'."

Ryo laughed."So?You've skipped breakfast before without being _this_ hungry."

"Yeah, uh," Rowen forced a grin, "but I forgot to have dinner last night, too."

Both of Sage's eyebrows were raised now and he was frowning.Cye was frowning, too, a look of concern and sympathy on his face."Look, Rowen," he said."We know this whole thing is hard on you.Maybe it would help to talk about it a bit."

Rowen still didn't look up."What's there to talk about?My mom died in a plane crash four weeks ago.That's it."

Ryo wasn't smiling at all, Sage was frowning deeply, and Kento had stopped eating and was looking from Rowen to the others and back again.Cye tried again."Rowen, we just want to help.Since it happened, you've been putting on this act like everything's the same.You've been forgetting things, you space out a lot, and we can tell you aren't sleeping well.We're your friends.You can tell us—"

"Forget it!I don't wanna talk about it.Just drop it!"With that, Rowen stood and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Oh, boy…" groaned Kento.

"Umm, what do we do?" Ryo asked."He's upset and you know how he gets when he's mad or something."

"Guys, I'm really worried about him.Sensei Yugi said Rowen actually forgot to do some work and I overheard Sensei Nuuman telling Sensei Son that Rowen's not running like he usually does at track practice.Now, he's forgetting to eat and his attitude is dismissive and temperamental.He's getting distant and it's not healthy."

"I agree, Cye.But, what is there we can do?Pretty much, nothing," said Ryo.

"And there's something else wrong.I can't put my finger on it but something just doesn't feel right.Rowen's keeping _something_ from us."

"Like what, Sage?" Kento asked.

Sage sighed."I don't know."He stood up."Unless we want to be late for our next classes, we should get going."

"What about Ro?" Kento pointed out.

"We'll worry about it after school," Ryo decided."I have the class after this one with him.I'll try to talk to him then."

"Don't make him mad!" chorused the other three.

Ryo grinned."Fine.See you guys later!"

* * * * * * * * *

Sage finally managed to evade the three girls who'd been following him with all their awful giggles and flirting for over ten minutes.Then he joined Cye and Kento at the picnic table under the shade of two sakura trees where their group always met.Kento and Cye had—as usual—started a fight over something and were now rolling around on the grass and laughing.Cye seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.

"Hey, you two, where are Ryo and Rowen?"

"Um, Ryo told me in the hall that he had to do something but he'll be here soon.He said he needs to tell us something," Cye reported.

Kento took advantage of his best friend's moment of distraction to flip Cye over and pin him to the ground."But neither of us have seen Rowen since lunch," he said.

Sage shrugged and turned to watch the main doors of the school for his other two friends._'I wonder if Ryo talked to Rowen.I hope Ryo didn't lose his temper.That might make Ro do something he'd regret,'_ he thought._'Why did this have to happen?Sarah was a nice person and it was obvious she loved Rowen.Ro's parents getting a divorce was one thing, but his mom dying…I wish I knew how to help him.'_

"I win!" Cye shouted.

"Only because I was going easy on you!" retorted Kento.

Cye sat at the picnic table next to Sage, laughing."You just don't want to admit that you, Warrior of Strength, got beaten by little ol' me.Strength isn't everything, mate.Look at me; I'm smaller, swifter, and thus: _superior_."

Kento scowled as he sat across from Cye."Whatever."He slumped forward on the tabletop."Man, how long are they gonna take?I'm hungry and Mama's making Western for supper tonight."

"So, in other words, you want to go home so you can fill your belly," Sage clarified.

"Duh!Didn't I just say that?"

"There's Ryo," Cye said."Hey, Ry!What took you so long?!"

Ryo joined them quickly."Hi, guys.Rowen's not here yet?"

"Nope," said Kento."Wish he was, though.I'm so bored!There's nothin' to do sitting here.If he'd just hurry up, we could go and I could get home and _eat_!"

"Impatience is a fault.You shouldn't let it get the better of you," Sage commented.

"And if you're going to sit there and yell about it," said Cye, "you might as well shout for the whole schoolyard to hear."

"Hey!That's a good idea, Cye!" Kento jumped up and stood on the tabletop.

The color drained from Cye's face."Kento, don't," he hissed.Too late.

_"Hey, anybody know where Hashiba Touma is?!"_ Kento bellowed.Nearly everyone in the schoolyard stopped and stared.For nearly three seconds silence reigned.Then, the crowds erupted with laughter as they returned to whatever they'd been doing.Kento shrugged and sat down."Can't say I didn't try."

Ryo fell off his seat laughing."Oh, gods!" he choked out."Look at Cye!He's redder than Wildfire!"

"Urusai, Ryo!Just shut up!" Cye scowled, still blushing."How could you, Kento?That was so—"

"Hey, China!" a voice called.Kento grumbled and responded, "Whadda ya want?"

A senior with his arm around his girlfriend walked up to their table."You're lookin' for Freak, right?"

"Freak?" Ryo asked.

The senior rolled his eyes."Yeah, _Freak_.He's in my Biology class.Teacher's pet, weird accent, ruins the curves, definitely not a senior, weird hair…Freak…also called Hashiba.He's the one you're looking for, right?"

"Uh, yeah.Why?" Cye asked, biting his tongue to keep from saying something…_unkind_ to the senior.

"Well, he left the moment the final bell rang.Practically ran down the street."

Ryo nodded."Oh.Well, thanks."

"No problem."The senior left with his girlfriend.Cye scowled after him and Kento was growling under his breath.Ryo and Sage held silent, unseen furies within.

"Jerk," Cye said."If anyone's a freak, it's him!The bloody nerve of that git!"

Ryo stifled a laugh."Cye, calm down.Your Brit blood's showin' up a little too much."

Cye blushed but still said, "Bloody jerk," one last time.Ryo stopped trying to stifle his laughter and fell off his seat again.

Kento and Sage stood up."If Ro's gone home, why don't we?" voiced Kento.The group headed down the street.

"Ryo," said Cye, "you said you wanted to tell us something."

"Oh yeah!In Chemistry, I tried to talk to Rowen.He just stared at the air as if he saw something and didn't even seem to realize I was there.I waved my hand in front of his face, talked pretty loud right in his ear, whatever.I even pinched him but…it was like he wasn't there, y'know?Like his body was there but everything else was somewhere else.When class was over, he just got up and left.Anyway, it kinda freaked me out…Guys, I'm really worried about him.I think he may need…you know…help."

No one spoke.They walked and each of the four was deep in thought.Two blocks were passed without a word.Then—

"How 'bout Mia?" Kento suggested."She's got lots of friends who do stuff like that.I bet she knows someone who could help Ro."

"Good idea!" Ryo agreed enthusiastically."Sage and I'll bring it up at dinner tonight.Er, or maybe Sage will.Mia's still mad at me over that china plate I broke the other day."

"Ry, are you ever _not_ in trouble with Mia?" Cye teased.

"Sure!There was the time when…uh—or remember when…um…well, I can't think of anytime in particular right now but if you'll leave a message at the sound of my panicked screaming as I run from Mia, I'll try to get back to you once I get out of the hospital and have hired someone to protect me from her."

Everyone started laughing.They came to the bus stop where they parted ways.Cye would go to the apartment he rented near the aquarium where he worked.Kento would go to his family's restaurant in the Chinatown district, where half his family stayed during the school years.Rowen, if he'd been there, would've gone to the apartment his father rented nearby a laboratory for the first three months of the Han a High school year.Ryo and Sage would go to the house Mia had bought right after Talpa's final defeat.

The Ronins had been dreading separating and returning to their respective homes: Sage to Sendai, Ryo to his cabin in the mountains, Rowen to Osaka, Kento to Yokohama, and Cye to Hagi.Mia had finally called up all their families and worked out a way for the five teens to all attend Han a High together.Being Mia, she argued her way through all disagreements and solved the problems.

Sage and Ryo stayed with her, since Ryo had no one else to stay with and Sage's family wouldn't leave the family dojo in Sendai.Cye's mother called in a favor from an old friend to get him his apartment for an especially low rent.Kento's father already owned a restaurant in the are, so he just came down there with two of Kento's siblings during the school year.Rowen's father worked at a local lab occasionally so he just rented an apartment only a block away and he and Rowen lived there the first three months of the school year.

"See you guys later," Cye said as he boarded his bus.

Kento caught the next one."Bye!" he said over his shoulder.They heard him greeting the bus driver: "Hey, baby, how're you today?"They also heard the woman tell him to shut up and sit in the back.

Mia drove up in her old red SUV a few minutes later and Ryo and Sage jumped in."Hey, guys!How was your day?"

"Oh, fine," Sage replied."How was yours?"

Mia grinned."Wonderful.I got a letter from Mother.She's doing great.And today was payday and I got a bonus.There's a new professor and he said he was impressed that I'm such a good professor's assistant myself at only 18 years of age.He's very nice, an elderly gentleman sort of guy.Oh, and Yuli's dad called, needing a sitter for the weekend.I told him you'd be happy to do it, Ryo.If they decide to pay you, you'll give me the money as a payment for the plate you broke.By the way, White Blaze has an appointment tomorrow for a checkup.You'll have to call ahead to the zoo to make sure they remember you're coming."

"Okay," Ryo said, already miserable with the thought that he was going to be earning money only to turn it over to Mia.He turned to Sage and whispered, "Considering her bitchy mood, it's gonna be a _long_ weekend."

"I heard that!" said Mia.

Ryo slapped himself on the forehead."Damn."

* * * * * * * * *

"Where were you?"

"At school."

"Why'd you take so long getting home?"

"I got here as fast as I could.I didn't mean to take long.I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough. You were late.What were you doing, huh?What kind of trouble were you getting into?"

"Nothing!Honest!I came straight home, ran all the way.I didn't stop once.I'm really sorry!"

"Shut up, you little liar!Give me the money."

"What money?"

"Oh, so now you're a smart aleck, eh?Well, we'll get rid of that!Now, either give me the money or else."

"I really don't know what you're talking 'bout!I don't have any money.What do ya need it for anyw—"

"Whadda you think I want it for, you stupid brat?!It's none of your business, anyway.Now, give it to me!"

"I don't have any!I swear!"

"Don't you yell at me, you ungrateful freak!C'mere!You need to be taught a lesson.When I'm through with you, you won't dare open your mouth unless I tell you to."

"Dad, please don't.Please!Dad, no…please…I'm sorry!I didn't mean anything!No.Please, no…"

* * * * * * * * *

He peeked over his arms again.He'd been sitting in a corner with his legs drawn up to his chest, his arms folded, and his face buried behind them, for over an hour.He glanced around the room cautiously.He looked at the couch and sighed, partly out of relief, partly from exhaustion.

"Thank God," he breathed.

His father was passed out on the floor beside the couch, a half empty bottle, with contents spilled over the carpet, in his hand.He'd probably been aiming to flop down on the couch but missed and just didn't bother to get up.He was snoring loudly, a sure sign that he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

With a pained grunt, Rowen stretched out his legs.God, he hurt!He was aware of something warm tickling the back of his neck. He hated to think what it was but it was a reflex gesture when he lifted his arm to feel it. He winced and quickly lowered his arm, noticing for the first time that there was a nasty four-inch cut on the underside of his forearm.It was bleeding quite a bit but not so much that he needed to worry for a while. A quick self-examination told him there was another cut, six inches, on his left leg; that there _was_ a wound on the back of his head, and multiple cuts and bruises were scattered across his body.His rib cage was the most sore.He'd been hit there the most.

It was a struggle, and it was painful, but Rowen managed to get to his feet._'Okay, step one complete.Now…the hard part,_ he thought. _Gettin' Dad to bed.'_He took the bottle from his father's hand, scowling at the spill it had made, now a stain that would never come up.He drained what was left of the beer in the kitchen sink and threw the bottle away.Then he picked up the shards of broken glass scattered about from the bottle his father had broken when he was…

For a minute, Rowen stood over his father, looking down at the man sorrowfully. "And to think that four weeks ago, ya thought beer was disgusting and people had no business selling it.You used to say drinking was for cowards and losers.Now look at ya.Drunk every night for three and a half weeks."

With a sigh, Rowen maneuvered his father into a sort-of-sitting position, grabbed him under the arms, and started pulling him backwards across the room to the door of his father's bedroom."Wow, Dad, you've gained weight," he grunted."I guess I don't need to worry 'bout ya being too thin anymore, huh?" He tugged the man another foot."Nope," he growled."Just gotta think 'bout how to hide the beer from ya, how to get ya sober every morning so you don't get in trouble," he pulled another two feet, "how to get money to buy groceries and stuff without you knowing there was money at all, how to—to—oh, man," he whispered. He stopped pulling his father and dropped to the floor.His arm and leg were bleeding badly now and his head felt too light and was throbbing, not a good sign."How to…to keep _everyone_, my friends included, from finding out 'bout what you've become…yeah…no problem at all."

He closed his eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.He felt strange in his chest, like there was something cold inside him.He was so tired… No.He didn't have time for a nap.Rowen pushed himself off the floor.He swayed a bit but stayed on his feet.He couldn't help but feel angry, and consequently—as a habit he'd always had—wanted revenge.He wouldn't be hurting like this if it weren't for his father… No, that wasn't true.His father was hurting too.That's why he was like this.Both of them were suffering the pain of grief at the loss of Rowen's mother, his father's ex-wife.Rowen just had to be strong; strong enough for both of them.

He set to pulling his father again.Four minutes later, he wrestled the unconscious man into his bed, covered him with a blanket, and shook his head with a sigh as he listened to the uninterrupted snoring the sleeper made.Then he left the room, closing and locking the door behind him, before staggering down the short, narrow hallway to the bathroom.

Leaning on his hands on the counter-top's edge, he looked tiredly at the stranger in the mirror.The person staring back at him wasn't the same as the person who'd been only four weeks ago. The boy from that seemingly long-ago time had been full of life and vivacity, energetic and eager to learn more about the world he lived in.The person who was there now looked to be weary of life, exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally, and the eyes…the eyes were too old for their 15-year-old owner, as if he'd seen too much—knew too much—to love life, to ever really _live_ again.

Rowen turned away from his reflection, disturbed by the look in his own eyes.He set about cleaning himself up, bandaging the wounds on his leg and arm.He turned the cold water on to a gentle pour in the shower and got only his head wet, feeling out the gash on the back of his skull with careful fingers.It was hurting a great deal.Rowen grabbed some ointment from one of the drawers in the counter and treated the wound with it, hiding it carefully.Checking the bandages on his right arm and left leg again, he noticed here were splatters of blood on the white linoleum floor.

"Great," he muttered."Just great!"

He spent the next 45 minutes cleaning the blood he'd left all over the apartment as best he could.He had to move the couch to cover the beer stain and set a rug over a stain of his blood from where he'd been sitting waiting or his father to either leave, pass out, or go to bed.He knew it was hopeless to even try to wash the stains out of his school uniform, so he threw it away, along with the rags he'd used to clean up what'd been on the floor.Finally satisfied that the place was clean enough again, he took an aspirin and went to bed thinking how lucky he was that today marked the start of the weekend.He locked his bedroom door behind him.

_'One week till we're supposed to go back to Osaka,_ he thought. _One week to decide what I'm gonna do.'_

Rowen fell asleep with his closed eyes aimed at a duffel bag on the floor, packed with the sort of things someone planning on disappearing for a while would take with them.His last thought before he slipped into blessed slumber was, _' 'Death be not proud'…but Life ain't so grand either.'_


	2. Chap. 2

"Hey, Kento

"Hey, Kento.What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Well, then why're you calling me so bleeding early?!"

"Whoo-hoo!" said the sarcastic voice. "It's not that early, Cye.You sound like Ro."

"Not that early?!It's seven o'clock in the morning!On a _Saturday_!Usually you'd be sleeping too, until around ten.I don't get up on Saturdays till at least eight."

"So?"

"So, what's the big idea?!"

"_Nothing._"

"You've already said that!Unless you can—oh."

"Yeah.That's right.'Oh.'"

"Alright.Just a moment.Let me close the door."Cye set the phone down carefully._'Figures,'_ he thought. _'At least Kento noticed before he said something we don't want her to hear.'_He walked out silently from the tiny bedroom of his small apartment and entered the room that served as both living room and dining room.The kitchen branched off on the right, and the bathroom was right beside the bedroom door, on the left.The only furnishing of the living/dining room were a small TV set, a fair-sized aquarium housing a dozen different fish, a beat up old couch, and a coffee table set right in front of the couch.A phone set was on the little table and someone was holding the phone to their ear.

She was about 5'4" tall, had shiny, thick, chestnut brown hair halfway down to her waist (her back was to him).She was wearing faded blue jeans and a maroon tank top, and a beat up dark green duffel bag rested at her sandaled feet.She had a hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and appeared to be listening intently.

Cye tapped her on the shoulder.With a yelp, she whirled about and dropped the phone."Oh, uh…hi, Cye."She smiled sheepishly, her light-brown eyes showing her guilt.

Cye laughed."Hi, Avena.What are you doing?"

"Um…nothing?"

"Nice try but not good enough," he told her."Why don't you stay away from the phone, so I can talk to Kento without your eavesdropping, and go get something to drink?"

"Oh, alright.Sorry."

"Yeah, right," laughed Cye.

"Shut up!" she laughed too as she headed for the kitchen.

Cye ran back to his bedroom, leaving the living room extension off the hook, hung up the bedroom extension, and returned to the living room to use that phone.That way, he could talk to Kento and keep an eye on Avena, who was bustling about in the kitchen.She apparently had decided to take it upon herself to fix breakfast.

"Hey, Kento, I'm back."

"You sure she's not listening?"

"Yes.I will never understand what makes her want to listen to my phone calls."

"Hey, bud, look on the bright side: you won't have to do any cooking or cleaning or whatever for a week or so."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Avena was Cye's cousin, his father's sister's daughter.Avena, her two brothers, Harmon and Kenneth, and their parents lived in London, England, where Cye's father and Avena's mother had been brought up.Avena and Cye had been born 4 days apart, Cye first, and had always been very close.Avena had given Cye his nickname when they were six or so, when she'd tried to pronounce the word cyan.She'd learned that it was a color of blue, and since Cye—called by his given name of Shin then—was always wearing blue, she'd tried to use 'cyan' to describe him but hadn't quite managed the word.Ever since, everyone—except his mother—called him Cye.

Cye occasionally spent the summer with Avena and her family, the Jamesons, in London, though mostly he stayed in Japan due to his mother's heart problems.Lately, her condition had been worse, and Cye and his sister, Sayoko, were careful that one of them was with her at all times.Consequently, Cye hadn't been to England for nearly two years.That didn't stop Avena.She managed to come to Japan frequently, staying for at least a week, bringing only the clothes on her back and whatever was in her "trusty ol' knappy", as she called her duffel bag.It never ceased to amaze Cye how much stuff she could fit in that thing.

As for accent, though the guys teased him often about the way his showed through when he spoke English, Avena, who didn't know any Japanese beyond 'sayonara', practically left them stunned speechless when she spoke.Ryo had once commented that, "Avena could probably catch more guys around here with that accent in _one week_ than Sage could get girls in a _whole year_."

"So what did you want, Kento?"

"Oh, right.Ryo called and had Papa wake me up.He's calling a 'meeting' this afternoon at the Manor."

"The Manor?Whoa, I haven't been there in a while.I hope I can remember the way.And I don't think the busses go out that far."

"You could, uh, have Avena drive you."

"She's younger than me!And neither of us are old enough!We just turned sixteen!"

"Well, yeah, but she looks older when she's driving.And I bet you won't run into any cops, so what's the problem?You did promise her once that she'd get to see Mia's old place."

"But—"

"Hey, man, chill!Just have her drive ya and get it over with.That's all there is to it."

"Fine.But the only reason you want her to is so you can see what kind of car she's rented this time."

Kento laughed."Right on, fish-boy!You've found me out.So hurry and get your butt over to the old 'Ronin Manor' on the double!"

"You've been watching those American versions of British life movies again, haven't you?"

"Yeah!Those people know how to have fun, I'm tellin' you."

"You realize that they make the British sound completely different than they really do, right?"

"Whatever.See ya?"

"Sure.See you later."

"Okay.Bye!"

Cye practically tossed the phone on its hook as he headed for the kitchen.The smells emanating from it were becoming tantalizing.They brought with them a nostalgic reminder of England.Avena's prowess in the kitchen was the equivalent of Cye's own cooking talent.The food could wait, though.He hadn't seen his cousin in nearly two months.

"Avie!Put down the spatula for a second, would you?"

"Sorry, but I'd rather not," she said with a wicked grin.

"But Ave!I want to talk to you."

Avena just smiled and kept cooking."Nuh-uh.You've got to tell me what you and Kent were talking about first.You mentioned me and my cars.So?" she asked in a sweet voice."Tell your dear little ol' cuz what she wants to know, Little Fishy."

"You're evil, y'know that, Ave?"

"Of course I do.Now tell me before I come after you with a pitchfork."She waved a steak prong threateningly.

"Oh, fine.Do you remember when I told you about Mia's old place?The one where the guys and I were when all that weird stuff was happening in Toyama?"

That was a story they'd created to explain their absence during the second half of the war with Talpa.Though no one remembered the first half of the 'Demon War' everyone remembered the second.For a while the Ronins had feared being found out, that someone might have seen their faces while they were wearing their armor.Predictably, there was plenty of news coverage over the last battle with Talpa and the mysterious samurai who'd fought the "giant demon" on a rooftop.Luckily though, there were no videos or other photographic recordings and eventually the buzz of talk about the five unknown warriors died away to the occasional reference to 'that strange time when that giant demon was causing trouble'.The Ronins hid their secret by claiming to have been out at Mia's during it all with the electricity down, so they didn't see any TV or even hear the radio.Most people thought the anonymous warriors were a special team kept secret by the government anyway.Ryo always got a laugh out of that."They'd never suspect that a bunch of fourteen-year-olds were their saviors!" he'd say.

Avena's grin had gotten bigger."Yeah, I remember…go on."

"Well, I have to go out there today and, um…" Cye trailed off.

"You need a ride and I'm available," she finished for him."Cool!So, I finally get to see the famous 'Manor'.Hey, will the guys be there?"

"Yes.Avena, please don't mess with their heads this time," he pleaded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know!Last time, you had Ryo blushing so much he looked like he'd catch fire.And the time before that, you scared Sage bad enough to make him lock himself in his room for two hours.And before that, you made Rowen think he was going crazy till he fell off the roof.And then, there was the time when Kento—"

"Okay, okay!Point taken!You can stop listing my sins now.I guess I'll leave them be _this time_."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"On old man Davis's grave?"

"Cye…"

"Say it!"

"We were just little kids!I wasn't really _that_ scared."

"Then you shouldn't have such a problem with it."

"Fine!I promise not to 'mess' with you friends' heads on old man Davis's grave _this time_.Happy now?"

"Yep.Mmm…" Cye said."Something smells good.So, what's for breakfast, Avie?"

"Pancakes, sausage, hot rolls, bacon, and orange juice, all supplied by yours truly.You need to learn how to grocery shop.I think that's why you're so bloody _scrawny_."

"Whatever.Let's just eat.Aren't you even tired?Most people would've had jet lag after that flight."

"I slept through the entire trip.Now, eat up," she ordered."While we have breakfast, we can exchange news.I've got tons to tell and time to hear."

"Alright.Where to start?"Immediately, Rowen's mother's death came to mind."Um, oh man.Do you remember Rowen's mom?"

"Yeah.She was fun to talk to.How is she?"

"Ave…she was killed in a plane crash four weeks ago."

Avena just sat and stared."Oh, my Lord in Heaven," she breathed.

* * * * * * * * *

"Shut up, Sage!"

"What?I didn't say anything," Sage defended, but grinned maliciously.

"No, but you were going to," Ryo said.

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't.Now, quit scowling and help me move this."

"Why?"

"Because Mia wants to put it over that rug."

"Why?"

"Because Mia wants to put it over that rug."

"Why?"

"So that next time you drop something, it won't break so easily."

"Oh.Okay."Ryo helped heft the dining table and move it across the room to stand over the thick rug.Then he trudged into the living room and collapsed on the couch with the TV remote.He started hitting the channel button without even really paying attention to what was on.He was exhausted.And according to the clock, it was only 11:22.That settled it.He hated babysitting.Even if it was Yuli.He'd gotten home twelve minutes ago, after spending yesterday and the night at Yule's place to baby-sit.He'd been paid twenty bucks and had to give it to Mia right away.

"Did you call everyone?" asked Sage, walking in with a glass of tea.

"Yeah, everyone but the person it's about," Ryo said miserable."Actually, I called Kento and he said he'd call Cye."

"Oh, yeah!" said Sage."Cye called right before you walked in.He said he's going to have to bring someone with him."

"Who?"

"Guess."

"…oh, I know.Crazy Avie?"

"Yep."

"Well, she got me last time, so whose turn is it?"

"Um…I was before you and Ro was before me.I guess it's Kento's turn."Sage sipped his tea with a grin.

"Wonder what she'll do to him."

"Who knows, but it'll be fun to watch."

"No kidding.Did Mia say where she was going?"

"She said she didn't want to be around for one of our "rowdy meetings", especially if Avena was going to be here.So she took Blaze and headed for the woods.That tiger wanted to go for a walk anyway."

"Did she say when that guy'd get here?"

"Yeah.His name's Barret Fazer and he's supposed to be here around one o'clock…Ryo, I'm not so sure about this.I mean, a psychologist is… If Ro knew—"Sage shook his head slowly.

Ryo shrugged."Then we won't tell him."

Sage closed his eyes and sighed.

* * * * * * * * *

"Left, Avie!Left!"

"Okay!Stop screaming!"

"I'm not screaming, _you're_ screaming!"

"You're screaming, too!"

"Fine!We'll both stop screaming, okay?"

"Fine with me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Okay!"

"Okay!"…

… "Ave?"

"Yeah?"

"That's a stop sign."

"Huh?Omigod!"Avena slammed on the brakes.The car jerked to a halt just as a minivan roared by.The two of them sat in silence for a moment before both began laughing.

"Why are we laughing?" Cye gasped. "We were nearly killed!"

"I dunno.Guess it was just funny."

Finally, their laughter died and the little silver convertible started forward, this time more cautiously.Avena was paying more attention now.

"So, why d'you need to go to the Manor, anyway?" Avena asked, without taking her eyes from the road."I mean, not that I'm complaining," and she grinned, "but really, Cye, what's gotten you all into a huff?You're not usually so jumpy."

"Ave, remember what I told you about how Rowen's been acting since the—uh—accident?"

"Avena frowned, still unnerved by the knowledge."Yes.What, you fellows aren't _that_ worried, now are you?"

Cye flinched, remembering the conversation yesterday in the school cafeteria and the unanimous concern he and the others had expressed for their friend."Yes, we _are_ that worried.You haven't seen Ro yet.He's changed from what you remember of him, since the accident.As to what's got me all in a huff… There's going to be a psychologist at the Manor today."

"A shrink?!"

"Yes.We're going to ask him what we should do about Rowen."

"A shrink!Call me crazy—"

"We already do," Cye interrupted, grinning.

"Shut up!What I was saying was that I don't think Rowen will like that much.I doubt he'll cooperate."

"…he won't be there.We didn't tell him."

"Oh, dear… Is he really that bad?"

"Example: remember that time when you made nearly enough food for an army and Rowen and Kento ate all of it?"

"Yup, took 'em less than an hour!"

" 'Kay, well, imagine Rowen forgetting to eat breakfast yesterday."

"So?"

"And dinner the night before."

"Oh…I see…So who's the shrink?"

"A friend of Mia's: Fazer or something like that."

"Mia thinks Ro needs help too?"

"She only agreed because she saw his eyes.We can't get him to look us in the eye, but Mia _literally_ bumped into him at a grocery store the other day and she got a good look at him.She said his eyes were just…_wrong_."

"So, why's he not coming today?Why'd you not tell him?"

Cye frowned sadly."He doesn't like even the slightest word about the accident or his behavior.He all but attacks us when we try to talk to him."

"Maybe I could try.I can be a pretty persuasive person."

"No, Avie.I think you should leave Rowen alone."

"But—"

"No buts please…you need to turn right here."

Avena started to turn the corner.A black truck nearly plowed them over.

"Your other right, Avena!!!" screamed Cye.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen locked the door behind him and headed for the elevator.He had to go shopping again.

As for his father…he'd gone to work.Rowen had dragged him out of bed, still sleeping, and into the bathroom.There, he'd maneuvered the slumbering man into the tub and turned on the cold water, full blast.Rowen had run out of the bathroom and locked the door, listening to his father's infuriated roars from the safety of the other side.Genichirou was still too drunk to even pull himself out of the tub.

After a while, the roars died down and there was a loud thud.Every morning…. It had become a sort of routine.Rowen went in to find Genichirou sprawled on the floor, totally soaked, looking surprised, confused, and pathetic.Rowen would help him to his feet and into the living room, where he'd drop on the couch.Rowen found something edible, got a glass of water and an aspirin, and brought it all to his father, who downed it all.

In the end, the result was always the same: Genichirou would get sober but have an awful hangover, Rowen would help him prepare for work, and eventually Genichirou would head out.Neither of them ever mentioned anything about what the older Hashiba had done or even spoke to each other.They never even met each other's eyes.

Rowen walked out of the apartment building, nodding to the security guard on duty in the lobby.Once he was a good block away from the apartment complex, he stopped and gritted his teeth.His leg and arm were pretty sore and his head was throbbing terribly.He rolled his sleeve up and looked at his bandaged forearm with a grimace.The cut probably needed stitches but he couldn't let anyone see it.He rolled his sleeve back down.What would he tell a doctor? _'Hey, could ya fix me up, here?My dad beat the crap outta me.'_?Yeah, right!

When he was about three blocks from the apartment complex, Rowen let out a little gasp.Suddenly, he had to stop and lean against a wall.His chest was cold inside again.It made him feel exhausted and it was slightly painful.He almost wanted to just lie down right there and go to sleep.

Forcing himself to take long, deep breaths, Rowen waited for the cold spasm to pass.Finally, it was over.He started walking again.What was up with him _now_?Rowen couldn't figure out what the freezing spells that had seized him lately were.That was the third time, counting the time last night, when he'd wakened from a dead sleep to that strange inner coldness.It kinda made it hard to breathe.

Reaching the grocery store, Rowen pushed all those thoughts away and concentrated on the task at hand.


	3. Chap. 3

"So, whadda you think?" Ryo asked anxiously.

The man leaned back in his chair."I can understand why you're all so worried.I would've preferred to have met your friend myself—"

"He'd never stand for it," Kento stated.He made a face suddenly."Cye, she's doing it again!"

"Ave!"

"What?" the culprit gave an innocent smile.

"Leave Kento alone!You promised," Cye reminded her.

"I didn't touch him," said Avena.

"No, but you were blowing on my neck!" Kento complained.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not, infinity, no call backs!"Before anyone could argue, she'd run out of the room and up the stairs.

"Dang it!" exclaimed Kento.He got up and shouted up the stairs, "You come back down here and fight like a man!"

"I'm a _girl_, you idiot!And it's not like _you're_ a man!"

"Why you—"

"Why don't you come sit down?" the man suggested.Still growling, Kento complied."Is she always like that or is she simply showing off?"

"She's always like that," all four boys confirmed.

"Hmmm…" the man mused.

"Y'know, Fazer, Crazy Avie could be a patient for you," said Ryo, an amused grin on his face.Cye gave him a warning glance.

"Hmmm," said Fazer in a tone of agreement."But she's not the reason I'm here.As to your friend, uh…?"

"Rowen," Sage volunteered.

"Rowen.Now, as to Rowen, I think you should, well, back off."

"Back off?" asked Cye, confused.

"Yes."

"But-but-but we have to make him—"

"There!" Fazer interrupted Kento, jumping out of his chair and pointing his finger at the boy."You've said it!'We have to _make_ him,' you said.When I was in high school, a friend of mine was always quoting books and songs and stuff.One of the things she used to say was: 'A man convinced against his will, is of his own opinion still.'You can't force your friend to act the way you think he should.It just doesn't work."

"So we should back off?" Ryo looked skeptical.

"Right.Just wait for…?"

"Rowen."

"—Rowen to make the first move and be ready to listen.When he does come around, he'll want to talk to someone.That's all you can do."

"But—"

"Please, this is my job.I know what I'm talking about.That high school friend of mine suffered through a trauma quite a bit like what Rowen is experiencing.She exhibited much the same behavior that you described Rowen as showing.When she came out of it, she needed someone to talk to more than anything.So, you guys just let Rowen be, and then be there for him when he decides he needs you."

"Okay," agreed Sage."That's the best plan I've heard yet…So now what?"

Everyone sat quietyly, some fidgeting anxiously, for almost two minutes.Then Kento jumped up, screaming.He shook his finger towards the window behind Fazer's chair and stammered.

"What?" Cye looked to the window."What!Avena!!!"

"Hiii~iii!" Avena waved…upside down.Outside the window, she was hanging from something upside down.She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "What'd I miss?"

Cye ran to the window and opened it.Apparently, Avena had hooked her ankles around the railing of one of the balconies upstairs."Ave, get down from there!You'll break you neck!"

Avena put her hands on her hips, which—in her position—looked rather silly."Aw, Cye, you're no fun.I'd rather stay here, thank'ee."

"Avena, get down," Cye ordered in a hard voice, one the other Ronins rarely heard."Your face is turning red."

"No!I'm staying right here."She crossed her arms over her chest."Whoooooaaaa!!!" she shrieked as she lost her leg-lock on the railing and fell.

Everyone jumped forward and Cye screamed, "Ave!" He scrambled through the window to his cousin's prone form.Lifting her head, he pleaded, "Oh, Avie, say something!"

Avena looked up at him."No, Mummy, I didn't burn down the apple tree.It must've been Kenneth…Hey, didja know you have a twin?Ooooh, now there're four of youuuuuuu…" She pointed to Cye's left.Far left.

Ryo snickered.Kento guffawed.Sage laughed softly.Fazer stood there with a sympathetic smile."That…can _not_ be normal," he said.

"No, reeeeally,"Avena insisted."There's four of my mummy.Seeeee?Hey, there are four of each of you, toooo…" She fainted.

Ryo fell to the ground, laughing so hard he cried.

Cye sat the unconscious Avena up."Great," he said sarcastically."Now, what do I do with her?"

* * * * * * * * *

There were two messages on the answering machine when Rowen got back to the apartment.One was from the supervisor of their apartment complex in Osaka, notifying them that their apartment was ready for them when they got there.The other was a surprise: Mia had called.

"Rowen, pick up.C'mon!Since when are you out and about at 11:45 on a Saturday?Are you still in bed?You would be, wouldn't you…Rowen, GET UP!!!"There was a pause."Oh, well.Just called to see if maybe you'd like to meet me for lunch.I haven't seen you in a while, other than the other day at the store, but that doesn't count.Have the guys been bugging you?I could tell 'em to back off… As if they'd listen," she muttered that part, obviously to herself.Rowen laughed at her annoyed tone as he put the groceries away.She continued in a cheery voice, "I shook Ryo and Sage for the day.Blaze is going to get to pay a special visit to those nice vets at the zoo, aren't you, you big black-an'-white furball?" Rowen could hear the tiger's unhappy growl in the background."Oh, shut up, kitty," Mia said.Rowen had to sit down, he was laughing so hard."Ryo was supposed to take him, but he "forgot"," disgust filled her tone."Anyway, gimme a call whenever… Uh, could ya call me on my cell phone?I know you don't wanna talk to the jerks I allow in my house.I swear I'll kick Ryo out next week.For real this time… Well, bye, I guess."There was the click of a hangup.

Rowen looked at the clock.1:53, it said in flashing red.Probably too late now, if she'd called at 11:45… With a sigh, he finished putting away the groceries.He'd only been able to afford two bags' worth, and he'd have to make it last till at least next Thursday.

He looked around the apartment.What to do?He really didn't want to stay in here.He didn't want to admit it but…he felt pretty lonely…

He turned on the TV.There was a commercial on for some new computer model."Well, there's an idea," Rowen said.He switched off the television set and shrugged into a windbreaker jacket.There was a public library four blocks away that had some 20 computers, with Internet connections, open to anyone.He might as well go do something on the 'Net.It was 2 o'clock now.He had until 6:30, when his father would get off work, and then Rowen should be at the apartment, in case his father actually came home on time for once.

With another of his increasingly-frequent sighs, Rowen locked the apartment door behind him, left the building, and trudged off for the library.He found himself thinking that he hoped he wouldn't have another of those cold spasms.They were starting to get a bit more painful than before.

"Jeeze, it's cold today.What a wind," he muttered absently and pushed onward.

* * * * * * * * *

"GO.A.WAY!!!"

"Ave, shhh.You really hurt yourself.You shouldn't shout; you should rest."

"I'm _fine_!Just lemme be," the girl pleaded.The guys had placed her in a bedroom and Cye was trying to get her to stay put.She'd been out cold for the past hour but now that she was awake, she wanted out of the room.

"Please, Avie, just go back to bed.You don't have to sleep," reasoned Cye, "just rest up a bit."He stood between his angry kin and the door, a position he didn't much care for.

"No.I 'rested' for an hour already!I'm just grand now, happy?Now get outta my way!" She tried to shove her way past him again.

Cye decided to be firm.Standing his ground, he shouted back, "No!Avena May Jameson, you go get in that bed this instant and don't move from it until I say otherwise!"Angry now, he screamed in her face, "If you don't, you'll find out just what I learned from Sage's grandfather at their dojo!And I don't think you wanna know!"

Just as furious as her cousin, Avena howled, "Who're you to say what I do and don't want?!And if you do show me your little karate-chop-show-off moves, that'd be a big hypocritical, considering the whole reason we're having this argument is because you want me to rest cuz I got _hurt_!"Renewing her air supply, she finished with a shrieking, "Besides, I can take you anyway!"

On the other side of the door, the other three teenagers listened to this entertaining dispute.Fazer had left 45 minutes ago.Now, following Avena's last comment, they heard a loud smack-crack-thud sound and then the door burst open and a purplish-blue-and-brown blur stormed past them, down the stairs, and into Mia's room.

The three boys just blinked."Ooooh, that _hurt_!" Cye moaned, emerging from the room, hand held to his left eye.

"Cye?" Kento's expression was blank.

"What?"

"You're a Ronin Warrior, right?" Sage asked, as blank-faced as Kento.

"Of course!"

"Then why'd you just get beat up by a girl?"Ryo started to laugh, Kento and Sage joining in.

"That," Cye growled loudly, "is _not_ a girl!That's Avena!"

"AND PROUD OF IT, LOVE!!!" came Avena's booming enthusiasm." 'EY, LADS, KENTO'S NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY CAR, OKAY?"

"OKAY!" Ryo shouted back as Kento whined, "Awww, man…"

* * * * * * * * *

Avena sat on Mia's bed.This room was much nicer than the boys' guest rooms, mostly because it was clean.Her eye landed on a computer on a desk in the corner.She went over to it, sat down, and fired up the machine.Surely Mia wouldn't mind i9f she played around on the 'Net using Mia's computer.As soon as she'd logged on, she went in search of an interesting chat room.Amazing what people would tell you when they didn't know who you were.

"Ah," Avena mumbled, seeing the screen name of one of her online buddies, _Redyrage_."This looks promising."She clicked the mouse.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen was already getting bored.He'd been on the 'Net for 20 minutes and already he'd ordered himself a new school uniform—since his old one was somewhere buried in the trash, bloody and torn—and charged it to the school's account.He'd checked his email, found nothing but spam, and now he was looking for something else to do.

He could always go chat… Why not?He had no one else to talk to.

Finding a chat room that looked halfway solemn, halfway fun, he just watched the other people's words scroll across the screen.After a while, he started typing.

* * * * * * * * *

**Aerostar:** Hi.

**Technorap:** Hiya!

**Mummergirl:** Hey!

**Redyrage:** Whassup!

**Zanyloon:** Hi there!

**Mummergirl:** Where's everyone from? I'm in Paris, France.

**Technorap:** I'm from Chile, but I'm visiting family in Mexico.

**Aerostar:** Japan.

**Redyrage:** Newport, California, U.S.A.: Land of the waves!

**Zanyloon:** I was born & raised in London, England, but I'm in Japan right now. What part of Japan are you in, Aerostar?

**Aerostar:** Around.

**Technorap:** Man, you don't talk much, do ya?

**Aerostar:** No.

**Mummergirl:** Why not? Something wrong?

**Redyrage:** You can talk to us! We're all cool!

**Zanyloon:** Dude, lay off the ! marks.

**Technorap:** Hey, let Star answer Mummer's question already.

**Aerostar:** I've got some home problems.

**Mummergirl:** Like what?

**Aerostar:** It's not that easy to talk about.

**Zanyloon:** Try.

**Redyrage:** It helps to talk sometimes.Or so I'm told.

**Technorap:** Are you still there, Star? It's been 3 min.

**Aerostar:** Yeah, I'm still here. Just trying to figure out how to word this.

**Mummergirl:** Take your time. Don't rush it.

**Technorap:** While we're waiting, what is everybody?

**Zanyloon:** Human, duh!

**Technorap:** No, I thought you were a bird!

**Zanyloon:** Well, I _am_ a loon! lol

**Redyrage:** A _zany_ loon.

**Technorap:** Seriously though.I'm 16/m.

**Mummergirl:** 17/f

**Zanyloon:** 16/f, from Planet X

**Redyrage:** 15/m, from Planet L.A.!

**Mummergirl:** Planet L.A.? What does L.A. stand for?

**Redyrage:** Los Angeles

**Mummergirl:** Honey, that's a city, not a planet. Isn't it?

**Redyrage:** But Zane got to use a planet with a letter for a name!

**Technorap:** That's bcuz Planet X is a _real_ planet. Out beyond Pluto.

**Mummergirl:** Star? U OK? Still there?

**Technorap:** Star?

**Redyrage:** My turn! Yo, Star, U still hangin, dude?

**Zanyloon:** This is Planet X calling Aerostar. Come in, Aerostar. Aerostar, do you read me?

**Aerostar:** Yeah, I read you: in the weirdest shade of purple I've seen in my life.

**Zanyloon:** lol

**Technorap:** Hey, where'd you go, Star?

**Aerostar:** I spaced out. I do that sometimes.

**Mummergirl:** U ready to talk now?

**Aerostar:** No, but I never will be. So, here goes…

**Aerostar:** A while back, my mother died. It really tore my dad up, I guess, because almost every night since he's come home drunk. Then he gets mad at me for one reason or another, usually the stupidest thing you can think of, and then he beats me up. I know my friends are worried about me but I can't tell them anything because my dad would get in trouble and I don't want that cuz I love him and I know he doesn't know what he's doing and he loves me too. My friends just think I'm still upset about my mom and they're a little pushy sometimes about trying to get me to talk to them. I decided that I'm gonna have to do 1 of 4 things: run away, stay with my dad, get help, or simply die.

**Redyrage:** I thought you said it wasn't that EZ to talk about.

**Aerostar:** It's different when you're typing. No emotional pauses can be heard. Believe me, tho, it's _not_ EZ.

**Mummergirl:** Star, we understand what you're going through. But you can mark 1 thing off your 4 choices list. You can't just die.

**Zanyloon:** And you shouldn't stay with your dad.

**Technorap:** Getting help would be the best thing.

**Aerostar:** But I don't want my dad to get in trouble.

**Mummergirl:** How old are U, Star?

**Aerostar:** 25

**Technorap:** M/F ?

**Aerostar:** M

**Mummergirl:** Do U have any relatives other than your dad?

**Aerostar:** My grandfather on my dad's side, but he's pretty old.

**Redyrage:** Why don't you stay with him?

**Aerostar:** Like I said: he's old. & he'd tell on my dad.

**Technorap:** Maybe that would be for the best.

**Aerostar:** I don't want to take the chance that it wouldn't be.

**Mummergirl:** Sometimes it's better to do what you don't want to.

**Aerostar:** Can we change the subject?

**Zanyloon:** Sure. Hey, Rage, seen any movie stars lately?

**Redyrage:** Oh, yeah! Just 4 days ago, I saw Jim Carrey drive by in a stretch limo!

**Zanyloon:** There U go w/the ! marks again.

**Mummergirl:** Who is Jim Carrey?

**Technorap:** How often do you see movie stars?

**Redyrage:** Jim Carrey is a comedy actor.

**Redyrage:** I see m-stars about once a month.

**Mummergirl:** Oh. Never seen him. We don't have many American movies in France. I've got to go. It's 5:30 a.m. over here and I've got to go to work soon. Maybe we could meet up next week. 

**Technorap:** How? We've all got different times.

**Aerostar:** Same day, next week. Mummer gets on at 10 p.m., her time. I get on at 8 a.m., my time. Rage gets on at 1 p.m., his time. Tech, will you still be in Mexico next week?

**Technorap:** Yes.

**Aerostar:** Then you get on at 3 p.m. Mexican time. Zane, will you be in Japan next week?

**Zanyloon:** No, probably not. I think I'll be back in London.

**Aerostar:** U'll get on at 9 p.m. London time, if you're there. Otherwise, get on at 8 a.m., Japan time. Does that work for everybody?

**Mummergirl:** Yes.

**Redyrage:** Yep!

**Zanyloon:** Yeah.

**Technorap:** Yes.

**Mummergirl:** See you next week then. Bye!

**Aerostar:** I'll be going too in 5 min.

**Technorap:** I have to go now. Next week then!

**Zanyloon:** I should probably go. I'm borrowing this comp.

**Redyrage:** Chat ya up later, Zane. & email me more often. I've put plenty of junk in _your_ inbox.

**Zanyloon:** Aw, gee, thanx! More junk. What would I do w/o U, Rage?****

**Redyrage:** Have a party.

**Zanyloon:** U're probably right. Gotta split. See ya!

**Redyrage:** Well, I'm goin' too. Catch ya next week, Star!__

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen sighed yet again, then blinked as a private I'm popped on screen.It was from _Zanyloon_, who had _said_ she was signing off but apparently hadn't.The message stated, in the odd purple color that personalized _Zanyloon_'s IMs: _In the words of George Eliot: "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"…If you wanna email me, my addy is: ajcraze@wingit.com…I can't say that I truly understand your situation, but I can be a friend.Hang in there, Star._

Not wanting to risk that he'd forget about the chat meet next week or Zane's email address—for he'd been forgetting a lot of things lately—Rowen printed out the IMs and pocketed them.He tried to will himself to surf around the 'Net a while longer but couldn't.So, he carefully erased all evidence of his Internet activities from the computer—a little paranoid, but oh well—and went to find a book to read until he had to go home—ha, home!—which he didn't quite wish to do just yet.

He soon discovered how hard it was to read when all he could think about was the way his life was falling apart.


	4. Chap. 4

Avena leaned back in the chair."Poor Star," she sighed.Sure, this was the 'Net and people made up life stories all the time, but sometimes one was for real.Like Rage, for example.She'd visited him once in California and every bit of his story was true…except for the movie-star thing…and, of course, his name was really Red Lewis, not Rage.

Still, if _Aerostar_ was telling the truth, which she felt he was, his life, well…sucked.That first bit, about his mother dying, had reminded her of Rowen…she wanted to at least see him, remind him that she would listen if he wanted to talk.So what if Cye'd told her to leave him alone?She wouldn't be forcing Rowen to talk to her, the way the guys tried to.

Remembering _Aerostar_'s 4 choices list, she shuddered.What if, like _Aerostar_, Rowen was considering death?Of course, Rowen's father wasn't an abusive drunk, but his mother _had_ died…

_Bam, bam, bam!_

"Bloody 'ell!" Avena yelped, startled, as her chair fell backwards and she thumped to the floor.The sound that had surprised her so was that of someone banging on the door.

"Avie, open up!"

_'Oh.Cye again.'_She shook her head with a smile at her cousin's behavior, but didn't answer him.While he pounded at the door and said things she didn't listen to, Avena turned off Mia's computer and opened the window.She paused halfway over the sill and listened for a moment.Cye wasn't even trying the doorknob."Idiot," she murmured.She slipped to the door and silently unlocked it.Then she climbed out the window."Absolute idiot," she laughed as she listened to Cye's continued noise at the door.

* * * * * * * * *

"Cye, she's not comin' out, man," Kento repeated.

"Avena, open the door!" Cye ignored Kento's comment.

"She's not even answering you," Sage pointed out.

"Actually, I haven't heard a peep outta there," observed Ryo.

"Okay, fine!If that's how you're going to be…" Cye growled to the door.He got a grip on the doorknob and then slammed his shoulder into the door.He obviously wasn't expecting the door to be unlocked.With a small crash, Cye fell through the doorway.

"Oh, dude!" laughed Kento."That was smoooooooth!"

"Oh dear," said Cye as he saw the open window.

Just then, the roaring start of a motor was heard.For a moment, the guys all looked at each other, confused.Then, with Cye in the lead, all four teens scrambled to the front door.They arrived on the porch just in time to see Avena's rented car move in reverse out of the driveway.Cye ran after it."Avena, wait!"

"Sorry, Cye!" the wild girl called, not really meaning it.She spun the car around at the end of the drive."But I've a little errand to run!The guys'll get you home!Bye!" With a smooth little roar, the silver convertible sped away.

Cye stared after his willfully unruly cousin.Slowly, he turned around and stomped up to the porch.Face to face with Kento, he silently smoldered in anger, glaring into the Chinese boy's eyes.

"Cye—" Kento began.

" 'Have Avena drive you,' you said," Cye growled." 'That's all there is to it,' you said.Of course, _I_ knew that wasn't likely, but did I listen to myself?_Nooo_.I listened to a brainless dimwit by the name of Kento…Rei…Fuan!And now, well, my cousin's off to who-knows-where in the middle of a country she's practically completely new to, and who do you think's to blame?Well?Who?"

Kento struggled to swallow."Cye, please—"

"Let me help you: his name is Kento.Now, how do you think I should punish Kento?"

"Uh, would you give him a five second head start?"

Cye cocked his head to the side and snarled, "I'll give him one second.Deal?" He held out his hand.

Kento chewed at his lower lip."Three seconds," he bargained.

Cye glared threateningly."One second or zero.Final offer."

Gulping hard, Kento slowly took Cye's hand."Deal.Umm, just what're ya gonna do to me—I mean, him?"

Cye grinned maliciously."Mia has a new frying pan.It hasn't been used yet.What better way to first use it than by frying a heart in it?"

"I think I'll make use of that second's head start, now."

"Okay. Go."

Kento scrambled away as fast as he could.Cye was after him in a flash, fury written in his expression.

"Mmm," said Ryo.

"Hmm," agreed Sage.

"TV?" Ryo asked.

"Why not?" Sage replied.

As they closed the door behind them, the screams of a fleeing Kento filled the air.

* * * * * * * * *

He looked at the clock on the wall for the fourth time in five minutes.Another couple hours till work was out.Sitting at a microscope gave him too much time to think.And he hated what his thoughts turned to.

_"She was in bad shape.We did all we could, but…"_

_'Go away.Shut up, shut up, shut up.'_

Why?Why did this happen?As far as he could tell, there wasn't a reason.And that made him all the more angry.

If he could just sit it out, just a few more hours, maybe he could forget… Try to drown it all out again.

He tried to concentrate._'Work,'_ he thought, peering through the microscope.

_…I miss you guys.I wish you could be here…_

He wanted to scream._'Why can't you just leave me alone?'_ he asked the memory.

Would she never let him be?

* * * * * * * * *

"Left or right?Or maybe straight?Oh, why can't they write street signs in English?"

_Honk_, complained the car behind her.Avena turned around in her seat."Oh, shut up!" she screamed.The other driver screamed back in Japanese.Avena rolled her eyes and smiled."I don't understand what your saying," she shouted singsong-style and turned back to the front.

"Umm, I guess left will do."She turned in that direction.Once she was about a mile up that street, she thumped herself upside the head."Oh, no!I was supposed to go right, not left!"

Without a second thought, she spun the little sports car in a tight U-turn."I hate driving in Japan!" she creamed at no one in particular, ignoring the panicked screeching of other cars swerving out of her way and the drivers of those cars yelling.Only after she nearly plowed over a sedan did she say, "Oops!Sorry!"

Nearly an hour later, Avena sat in traffic, thoroughly annoyed."La de da, la de dee…ohhh, somebody shoot me!La, de, something, something, something…la, la, la," she gave up trying to remember the lyrics to that song.Instead, she stood up in the car and screamed, "Can we _PLEASE_ get moving 'ere?!"

About seven other drivers looked at her and screamed, "URUSAI!!!"

Avena scowled and sat down."Urusai?What the bloody heck does that mean?" But still, she tried to be patient.

Hopefully, she'd find Rowen's apartment complex before dark.She made a face at the thought of being out later than that.The drivers around here really had _no_ manners, so _rude_.

* * * * * * * * *

Oh, well.Might as well start the walk back to the apartment complex.He didn't have to go straight home, he could take a detour.He still had an hour and a half to go before he really had to be home and it only took 15 minutes to walk from the library to the apartment complex.

Placing the book back on its shelf, Rowen left the library.It wasn't as windy as before outside.He breathed deeply of the fresh air._'Whoa,'_ he thought._'Don't do that again, Hashiba.Very bad idea.'_Upon breathing as deeply as he had, he'd suddenly felt the start of a cold spasm.What could possibly be wrong with him?

Two blocks from the apartment complex, he turned east.As he neared his destination, he had to force himself to remain calm.At the bus station, he headed for the information booth.This would only take a few minutes, then he could go home.

Three things out of his 4 choices had been struck off by the chat group, but no one had mentioned his first choice.He didn't really want to do this…

" 'Sometimes it's better to do what you don't want to'," he quoted of _Mummergirl_.

* * * * * * * * *

"Anybody home?"

No reply.

With relief, Mia sighed and opened the door all the way.White Blaze walked in after her, exaggerating a limp on is left foreleg."Oh, stop," Mia said."You're a terrible actor."

The tiger glared at her but quit faking the limp. "It was just a little shot, Blaze," insisted Mia."Don't complain so much."White Blaze ignored her with all the feline haughtiness he could muster.

Dropping onto the sofa, Mia grinned at the animal's silly behavior and tried to relax.Such a tiresome day…and it wasn't over yet.No one had answered her when she arrived at the manor, but that didn't mean they weren't around somewhere.When she'd dropped Sage off at the manor at 11 o'clock that morning and then left again with White Blaze, she'd told him she'd be back by 6 at the latest to pick up him and Ryo, who was to be brought up there by Yuli's father.So, at least two Ronins were still here.She hadn't seen any other car in the drive, so Avena and Cye must be gone; Fazer too.

Ah, but right now…this glorious silence… "Quiet…nice…" Such beautiful, wondrous peace…

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" _Slam_.

"Oooh, you did _not_ just slam the door in my face!Alright, so now that adds up to your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and stomach.I might as well fry every bit of you."_Slam_.

Mia sighed."Me and my big mouth," she said and pushed away from the comfort of the sofa.Then she frowned in confusion."Waitasec.What's wrong about this picture?"

"Ohhhhhhhh, CRAP!!!"

"Kento?" The reply to Mia's inquiry came in the form of Kento barreling into her.He stopped and set her back on her feet, said, "Sorry, Mia!Sorry, sorry, sorry.Umm, I gotta go," and ran off at breakneck speed.

Mia watched his exit, dazed and still puzzled."Well, that doesn't answer my question.What's wrong here?"

Once again, the answer had to come in a painful fashion.Since her back had been turned to the direction of Kento's entrance, she didn't see it coming.Sitting on the floor for the second time in the past 15 seconds, she was surprised to see who'd collided with her this time.

"Cye?"

The teenager jumped to his feet and helped her up."Oh, I'm so sorry, Mia.Did I hurt you?"

"No," she smiled, "though after the way Kento ran me over, getting hit by a semi-truck would be less painful."

"Well, as long as you're okay, I have to go now."He was halfway out the door by the time she realized he'd moved.

"_HOLD IT!!!_" she screamed.Cye halted."Get over here," she ordered.When he was back at her side, she threw back her head and used all her lungpower to make herself heard."_EVERY LIVING BEING IN THIS HOUSE WILL REPORT TO ME THIS INSTANT OR DIE CRUEL, PAINFUL, DRAWN-OUT DEATHS AT MY HANDS!!!NOW, MOVE IT!!!_"

Following this very serious demand, the Manor seemed encased in silence.Then, the thunder of several feet on the stairs quaked the house.White Blaze pounded into the room first, Ryo literally hanging on his tail, then Sage rushed in, nearly colliding with Cye, and Kento arrived a split-millisecond after him.

Mia glowered at the lot of them."Blaze, sit over there," she ordered, pointing to the door at one end of the room."Anyone tries to leave, you will not let them."She walked to the other door and locked it.Then she came up to the boys.Looking into Ryo's eyes, she said sweetly, "You may sit down." The bearer of Wildfire did so promptly.To Sage, she said just as sweetly, "You too," and Halo followed suit.

Now Mia looked at Cye."First of all, where's Avena?And you may use only one word."

"Elsewhere."

"Kento, does Cye want to kill you?One word."

Kento looked at Cye and said, "Yes."

"Alright.Cye, do Ryo and Sage have anything to do with this?"

"No."

"Then Ryo and Sage may leave.Not a suggestion," she added.

Ryo and Sage left, gladly.

"Next question's for Cye.Does Avena have something to do with this?"

Cye glared at Kento."Yes," he growled.

"Kento, you may stand a little farther away from Cye.Only a little.Five feet max."Kento was only too happy to use those five feet.

"Alright, Cye.You may tell me what this is all about."

So, Cye did.Mia listened with increasing exasperation and a frown.When Cye finished with, "so Kento has to die," she looked upwards."Why me?" she asked the gods.

Kento and Cye waited silently.

Mia sighed."Cye, you can't kill Kento—don't argue with me, young man—and you can't blame him for the…mental state of your cousin.Avena will do what Avena will do, and you know that.If you want to vent your aggression, go cook something that isn't human, okay?"

Cye grudgingly removed himself to the kitchen, leaving behind a very relieved Kento."As for you, you're very lucky," Mia reminded Hardrock."Cye would've made sushi out of you.No matter how small he is, he can still beat you in a fight."

"But _why_?I'm stronger than him!"

"He's small, swift—"

"And thus superior," Kento finished for her, "I know, I know.It's not fair…"

Mia left him to his sulking and locked herself in her bedroom.She the computer desk chair back up."So she was on my computer too."She'd check for any problems later.Time to make a call.She had a separate line in her room, so she needn't worry about one of the guys hearing this.

The person she was calling picked up on the second ring."Talk to me," a male voice greeted.

"Randy, hi!Guess who this is?"

"…Mia?Mia as in the French kid?"

"Yes sir!"

"Hey, haven't heard from you in years!Last I saw of you, you were arguing with your mother about that skimpy little outfit.She said you were too young to wear such a thing and that you'd regret it later.Did she win or did you?"This time he spoke in French.

"I did…but she was right."

"Live and learn, kid.How're you doing these days?"

"Oh, great.I'm a professor's assistant at a university here and sometimes I kind of teach—"

"Teaching?At your age?"

"I came to live with my grandfather and he kind of set me up."

"Well.So what's up?"

"You're still on the police force in Toyama, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"Umm, I kinda need a favor?"

"Oh, name it then!I owe you for keeping me from falling off that bridge all those years ago," he laughed.

"Well, I have this friend and his cousin came to visit from England.She's just a little bit, uh, insane and she drove off alone a while ago.She doesn't know Japanese and being the way she is, she's bound to get into some kind of trouble.So, I was wondering if maybe you could be on the lookout for her, uh, take her into custody if you see her…?"

"I guess I could.What's her name, what's she driving, what does she look—"

"Randy, I know the drill, remember?"

"Oh, yeah.Uh, so…go on."

Mia gave him all the information he'd need."I really appreciate this, Randy.Avena is very dear to my friend."

"Hey, who is this friend anyway…a boyfriend, perhaps?" Randy teased.

"Randy," warned Mia.

"Why not?You had at least three fellows after you when I was in France."

"Cye is just a friend.I have four other friends like him and we all get along just great.Friends, Randy, nothing more."

"Sure, Mia, sure.Look, I gotta go but I'll give you a call if I find your little wild card, okay?"

"Okay.Bye."She hung up.Just then a scream came at her door and someone started pounding at it.

"Mia, help me," Kento pleaded."Cye's after me again!"

Mia groaned and buried her head beneath her bed pillows.


	5. Chap. 5

Avena smiled.Then she clapped her hands gleefully.With a shriek, she grabbed the steering wheel again and jerked the car back into the correct lane.

She'd found Rowen's place.Finally!She pulled into the parking lot.Finding a place to park could take a while.After searching for over ten minutes, she slipped into a tight space between a truck and a "New" Beetle.Thoroughly pleased with herself, Avena trotted towards the main entrance.

Suddenly, she saw her target.Rowen walked through the double doors, hands thrust deep in his jacket pockets.Avena ran for the door and walked through the door a mere five feet behind Rowen.She was careful to act as if she were with him but not let him know she was there.When Rowen nodded to the guard, she nodded and smiled sweetly, too.

She followed the blue-haired boy through another door.Rowen headed toward an elevator.Avena ran for a door marked "Stairs".She raced upward, two steps at a time.She had to touch her hands to the stairs often, in order to keep her balance.Even though she was quite winded by the time she reached the 4th floor landing, she grinned eagerly over the little game she was playing.

Opening the door a crack, she peeked through and saw Rowen step off the elevator.He turned down the hall, away from her.She bit her lip to keep from laughing and silently stalked after him.Near the end of the corridor he stopped and started unlocking the door marked 23D.Avena jumped into the little alcove made by the door across the hall from 23D, stifling a surprised yelp as the doorknob jabbed her in the back.

Rowen opened his door and walked inside.But he didn't close it behind him, running for the ringing phone.Avena took grateful advantage of his distraction to pad into the apartment and hid behind the doorframe of the tiny cramped hall across the den that led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

_'Oooh, this such _fun_!'_ she thought, and nearly choked on a giggle.

* * * * * * * * *

"No." Rowen rolled his eyes at the persistent salesman on the phone."No, no, no, and no!"The salesman started to protest."Oh, go throw your sales' pitch at a baseball game!" Rowen exclaimed and slammed the phone down on the hook.

"Salesmen!Who needs them, right?"

Rowen whirled about, nearly—just nearly—surprised out of his skin.There in the doorway of the little hall stood someone he wouldn't have guessed to show up in his apartment in a million years.

"What're you doin' here?!" he demanded.

"Came to visit Cye.Thought I might drop by.Hey, that rhymes!Ooops, I did it again!" Avena giggled.

"Seriously, Avena.What are you doing in my apartment?How'd you get in here?"

"I followed you in!" she told him and pointed at the still-open door.

Rowen frowned and closed the door.When he turned back, Avena was seated on the couch.She suddenly looked startlingly serious—for Avena.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Rowen inquired uneasily.The last time he'd seen the girl half this solemn, he'd ended up falling off a roof.

"I don't know…" She looked at him, searching his face for something."_Is_ something wrong?"

Uncomfortable beneath her close scrutiny, he feigned ignorance."What do you want, Ave?"

"I want you to sit down and talk to me.Now."

Unnerved by the abnormal degree of sternness in the British girl's tone, Rowen sat down.But he couldn't bring himself to talk.He just stared at his hands in his lap.Avena did much the same.

Nearly fifteen minutes after Rowen had hung up the phone and become aware of his uninvited guest, he whispered, "I'm so alone…"

Avena didn't look at him but took his hands in one of hers and said ever-so-softly, "I know…" Then she turned and squeezed his hands with both of hers, prompting him to look at her.She smiled gently."But I won't let you be alone anymore."

* * * * * * * * *

A bell rang._'Work's over,'_ he thought and put his equipment away.Ten minutes later, he was walking away from the library.But Genichirou Hashiba wasn't going home.Not yet.One stop to make first…

_"The plane crashed over the western coast…"_

_'No.I'm not hearing this,'_ he silently told himself.Then aloud, "Not again."

_Don't tell Touma; I want it to be a surprise…_

She was doing it again.He trudged on, trying to ignore the too-vivid memories.

He found himself standing before the bar.For a moment, he almost walked away.But then…

_"We found her this morning…"_

_I've got to go…Love you lots…_

Genichirou walked into the bar.

* * * * * * * * *

"Exactly how long has it been since you ate a decent meal?" Avena asked.

Rowen stopped eating only long enough to say, "A while."

Avena set another plate of food before him."I take it that it was a very long while?"

Rowen just nodded, cramming another piece of fried chicken in his mouth.Since she'd gotten there, they'd watched TV, discussed whether or not Cye should repaint his apartment, watched TV, argued about which flavor of ice cream tasted best, watched TV, and finally, Avena had gone and gotten a bag out of her car and used its contents to make her friend a large enough meal to keep him satisfied for at least a day.

"But you have food here.I saw it in the kitchen," she stated, confused.

Rowen swallowed and picked up a fork for the baked potato."Yeah, but I have to make it last a long time."

"How long?"

"Sometimes, two or three weeks.It depends," he said and grabbed more food.

"Why?Can't you just buy more?That's what you used to do."This had Avena puzzled.She'd visited Japan enough to know that Rowen's father made enough money for them to live comfortably.Food expenses weren't a problem.

Rowen paused, the fork halfway to his mouth.Slowly, he lowered the utensil.He gripped the edge of the table till his hand turned white.When he looked at Avena, she was almost frightened by what she saw in his expression, in…his eyes.

But she looked at him, without a hint of a flinch.And she waited.

Rowen obviously was trying to figure out how to say something.Well, she wouldn't rush him.If it took a thousand years, she would wait.

A thousand years may not have passed, but it felt as if a couple million eternities had.Rowen was about to speak when something far worse than bad happened…

A key rattled in the lock.

* * * * * * * * *

"But I can't breathe!"

"Shhh.You can too."

"But—"

"Please, Avena, be quiet._Please._"

Avena looked up at him.Something was really wrong.Rowen had pushed her into a closet and was trying to cover her up with jackets and sheets.He was trying to hide her.

He was scared.

And Avena was catching that fear.

She shut up.

"Just stay put and don't move or make a sound._No matter what._Okay?"

She nodded.

"Alright.Now remember: _don't do anything_."And he closed the door.

She sat there in the dark, the only light coming from the tiny slats in the closet door._'Well, Ave,'_ she thought to herself, _'you've done it again.You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?…I don't like closets.'_

Then she heard something she'd never forget.

"Oh dear God," she whispered.

* * * * * * * * *

"Touma, get over here!" Genichirou roared.

Rowen didn't even try to avoid it.He didn't want to bring attention to the girl in the closet.He didn't even want to think about what would happen if his father found Avena.

"Dad, I—"

"Shut up, you little bastard!Get over here!"

Rowen stepped forward, chin raised.There was too much at stake this time.He couldn't hide, as he sometimes did.

Genichirou looked at him and snarled, "What do you think you are?Some sort of little prince?"

Rowen just stood there.

_Thwack._

Genichirou looked down at his son, sprawled on the floor."Wretched little brat," he sneered.He dropped the beer bottle he'd brought home with him.

Rowen tried to get up but a foot suddenly dug into his back, pushing him down.The start of a cold spasm started in his chest._'Oh, no.Not again, not now.'_He pulled away from the foot, only to get kicked in the side.

Genichirou picked up the bottle again.Rowen got to his feet and stepped backwards.He recognized the tensing of muscles in his father's arm, shoulder, and neck._'He's going to throw the bottle at me.'_Rowen's limbs tensed, ready to react.He'd just thought of something.Sometimes, his father managed to knock him out before he crashed himself, and then Genichirou would rage around the apartment, opening doors and tossing things out of cupboards and closets.If he did that this time, he'd find Avena.So, Rowen had to stay on his feet.

His mind, of its own accord, had switched into battle mode._'Movement.Move.'_Automatically, Rowen leapt aside.The bottle flew past him and collided with the door of Avena's closet.Furious that he'd missed his target, Genichirou charged at his son.

* * * * * * * * *

Avena bit her lip to keep from crying out as a shard of broken glass sliced her cheek.She clamped a hand over the cut and pressed hard.She felt sticky warmth seep between her fingers.Her eyes widened in surprise.She opened her mouth, just to check, and found that this was far too painful, so she kept her lips firmly sealed.

Outside, she heard the sounds of a small struggle.The roars of the drunken man were very angry.She could hear Rowen trying to talk to him.There was the crash of something like glass colliding with the floor.

Curiosity finally got the better of her, despite how scared she was.Avena carefully peeked through the slats in the door.She got a glimpse of Genichirou Hashiba throwing a fist at Rowen.She pulled back further into the tiny closet and pressed a handful of sheet to the cut on her cheek.It was deep and bleeding freely.

_'Dear Lord, how can this be happening?'_She'd come over here to talk to Rowen because of what _Aerostar_ had said.But she'd been thinking that all that was wrong with Rowen was the death of his mother.Instead, his problem was practically identical to _Aerostar_'s…

_'Bloody 'ell…what're the chances?!'_

* * * * * * * * *

_'There goes the lamp,'_ Rowen thought as his father knocked it over.Then, _'Oh, boy.Here comes another UFO.'_He ducked the projectile, which turned out to be a fragment of the lamp base.As he straightened up, his father flew at him, fist headed for Rowen's face.

Mind still in defensive mode, Rowen reflexively grabbed the fist and swung it away, causing Genichirou to reel away, too.This maneuver had placed Rowen with his back to Avena's closet.Now, Genichirou rushed at him, enraged.He grabbed something off a table as he came.

Rowen saw the deadly glitter of metal and then his father was upon him.Rowen grabbed the wrist that held the letter opener, twisting it away from his face.Genichirou kept his grip on the potential weapon and Rowen would have broken his wrist but he suddenly realized that this was his _father_.He couldn't hurt him.

In only a momentary lapse, Rowen had given Genichirou an advantage.Genichirou slashed down with the letter opener, Rowen ducked it, and the sharp blade plunged through a slat in the closet as the man lost his grip.Rowen heard a muffled thud but nothing more.

He nearly panicked._'Oh, gods, what if it killed her?!'_He had to end this, _now_.

Without a second thought, Rowen grasped his father's shoulder, drew back his fist, and looked Genichirou in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Dad." And punched his father.The drunken scientist fell unconscious to the floor.Rowen stored down at him, tears in his eyes.He'd been like that for some time when he remembered why it had come to this.

"Avena!"

* * * * * * * * *

Avena saw the flash of light against metal and then there was the _woosh_ of air as something flew towards her.She shut her eyes tight._'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!'_

Nothing happened.She opened her eyes slowly.Without moving, she looked around._'Oh.My.God.'_There was a blade of some sort less than a centimeter from her left cheek, right below her ear, stuck in the wall she was leaning against.Still pressing the sheet to her right cheek, she simply sat and stared peripherally at the letter opener that had _literally_ come within a hair's breadth of ending her life.She didn't even know that she was forgetting to breathe.

And that was how Rowen found her.

* * * * * * * * *

"Avena, are you okay?"

"Ummm…"

Rowen yanked the letter opener away from her face."Are you okay?" he asked again.

Avena would've answered but the pain of opening her mouth was too much.So she settled for, "Ummmmm…"

Rowen pulled her hand away from her cheek."Damn," he growled.He helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom.While he was cleaning the cut, he said, "You're gonna need stitches.Shit.Cye's gonna kill me."

He looked through the medicine cabinet, found some Band-Aids, and sighed."These'll hafta do."He carefully put four of them across Avena's cut.

Avena tried again to open her mouth and decided against it.She looked puzzled for a moment and then thoughtful.Then she suddenly grabbed Rowen's chin and forced him to look her in the eyes.

In that mahogany gaze, Rowen saw what Avena couldn't say."Yes, he was very drunk.I'm fine.I know I should've told…someone… Really, I'm fine.C'mon."He led her back to the kitchen.

He sat down and glanced at the clock.He looked at her again, then at the clock."Look, Ave, you should head down for the hospital.I've got things to do."

Avena shook her head.Besides, she didn't know where the hospital was.She made a writing motion with her hand.Rowen understood and got a paper and pen.Avena wrote: _I don't know where the hospital is.And what about your father?_

Rowen sighed."I can take care of it.And the hospital's seven streets away to the right when you walk out the front door of the building.Go on now.You're already bleeding again."

Sure enough, Avena could feel the trickle of blood down her cheek.She wrote: _I'll tell the security guard about your father on my way out, ok?_

"No!Don't you dare!" Rowen growled.

He was too serious for Avena to disregard his warning.She wrote: _Ok!_But her expression portrayed her confusion.

Rowen fidgeted and kept glancing at the clock.Then he said, "Okay, look.You have to go.Right now."

Avena shook her head again.

Rowen tried a sterner tone."Avena, you have to go."

Avena shook her head and opened her mouth to snap a "no!" but ended up just snapping her mouth shut again.She shook her head a 4th time to make up for it.

Rowen looked ticked.He grabbed Avena's arm and yanked her to her feet."You," he growled, nearly forgetting to speak in English, "are leaving!"

Avena tried to pull away and argue, but this time the pain of attempted speech shocked her into a near stupor.Next thing she knew, she was standing beside the door outside the building.Her cheek throbbed.Her first thought: _'Heavens, that guard must be deaf _and _blind!'_

Still not completely sure of what she should do, the 16-year-old stood there.She was suddenly terribly aware of the fact that her head hurt._Bad.__'Oooh, I hate it when Cye's right!'_ she thought, realizing that this latest addition to her hurts was a result of her fall from the balcony.

_'Go get in your car,'_ she told herself._'Go to the hospital.'_Then, _'No, stay here. You need to do something about Rowen.'_

In the end, she just stood there.She hated this!She absolutely didn't know what to do._'I said I hated driving in Japan… I think maybe I shouldn't come 'ere anymore… It might be in the best interest of my health.'_

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen looked down at his father, sorrow more poignant than ever in his eyes.Sitting down on the floor beside the man, he smiled wanly at Genichirou's beard.Facial hair wasn't exactly approved of in Japan."You always were a bit weird, Dad…" He fingered his own hair."Guess you'll never know how "weird" I am."

He was all but crying.Time to end this… He kissed his father's cheek."Bye, Dad."

Hefting the duffel bag to his shoulder, Rowen left the apartment.

* * * * * * * * *

Avena turned to leave.She was halfway to her car when she heard the doors close.She turned back. _'?'_ she thought.

Rowen was walking away from the building, a duffel bag over his shoulder.Avena blinked and looked at the apartment building.She looked at Rowen.Building.Rowen.Building.Rowen.Then she looked at her rental car.Then the building.Rowen.Car.Building… Rowen.Avena took off after her chosen target.

As she trotted along, blood began to really flow down her cheek.Her tank top would be ruined… She nearly let out a squeak as she had to upgrade her speed to keep Rowen in sight.She didn't think her body would much appreciate being forced to run right now.

And to think she'd come to visit Cye for a _holiday_.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen had only gotten half a block from the complex when he realized someone was following him._'Dammit!I told her to go to the hospital.'_He sped up.He was conscious of Avena speeding up too, but not trying to run.

At the end of the block he decided that he had to lose her.He took off running.

* * * * * * * * *

Eyes wide with surprise, Avena halted and then ran after Rowen.He was running?Why?

As she'd predicted, her body complained immediately.Her head pounded, her cheek throbbed.Her mind raced.

_I'm going to have to do 1 of 4 things: run away…_

The last two words of _Aerostar_'s statement echoed through her mind._'Rowen is…running away?'_

Ahead of her, Rowen abruptly turned a corner.Wanting to scream for the pain of it, Avena ran full out.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen suppressed a gasp.A cold spasm was growing in his chest.The bus station was less than three blocks away.He knew Avena was running behind him and he knew it had to be painful for her.She couldn't, _mustn't_, follow him to the bus station.Once there, there would be no losing her.So, despite, the terrible cold pain spreading through his chest, he ran as fast as he could manage.

He was suddenly aware of a light-headed feeling and the uncharacteristic dullness of things he saw.Almost as if the colors and outlines were fading and dimming.He shook his head and ran on.

The duffel bag seemed to be getting heavier, the cold was almost unbearable.Why did everything look so odd?

* * * * * * * * *

_'What the hell?'_

He was looking up at a darkening sky.No, it was supposed to be blue still.Why was it getting so dark around the edges?There was a hard, cool, damp something beneath his head.And his chest was no longer just cold.It was engulfed in a fire of ice, burning and freezing at the same time.He couldn't seem to get enough air.

Rowen lay there, gasping as his vision became dimmer and dimmer and his body ached for oxygen he couldn't supply according to demand.Then there was a strange calm, a sort of peace.He was tired beyond imagining.The urge to close his eyes and just sleep was too heavy to ignore… Why not?

With one last gasp and a final sigh, Rowen let go.


	6. Chap. 6

Avena dropped to her knees beside Rowen."Rowen!Talk to me!"

Not a word.

She searched for a pulse.Nothing.She put her ear to his chest and listened with every bit of attention she could manage.Nothing."Oh, _GOD!!!_" she screamed.

A man came out of the shop they were in front of.She looked at him."Go call help!" The man didn't know what she said."Doesn't anyone in this country know English?!" she shrieked.Then Avena pointed at Rowen.She patted his chest and drew her finger across her throat in a slicing motion.She pointed at the man and formed her hand to her ear like a phone.Then she mimicked the wailing sound of a siren.The man's eyes widened in comprehension and he ran into the shop.

Avena began pressing down on Rowen's chest, then letting it rise.She'd never actually learned CPR, but she knew enough.After a few compressions, she held his nose and put her lips over his, forcing air into him.Then she pumped his chest again.She soon became lost in the repeating pattern.At some point, she hardly noticed, there was a strange flash of blue in her eyes as she leaned over him.

Dimly, she was aware of a loud noise approaching.She ignored it.Then there were voices all around her.Someone said to "get her out of the way" in broken English.But someone else, speaking easily in that language, said not to because "she's the only thing keeping him breathing" and the person who'd been trying to pull her away stopped.

For a moment, Rowen started to breathe on his own, but it was only the smallest fluttering intakes and they didn't continue.So Avena continued to breathe for him.More sirens came.A clatter of metal on concrete began.Skilled hands were working around her but after a couple attempts they gave up trying to move her, instead taking over the chest compressions so she could concentrate on breathing regularly.Someone was encouraging her and reminding her to breathe for herself too.

Then Rowen was being lifted and someone guided Avena, who was still providing his breath, up a pair of steps.They were moving but standing still.She was starting to get a little light-headed.Suddenly, she was ripped away from Rowen and held still.

Once she'd caught her breath again and focused her eyes, Avena realized she was inside an ambulance.The man holding her released her.Another medic had taken over the CPR and she could hear the siren howling.The medic who'd been holding her was asking her something."I don't know what you're saying," she said exasperatedly."Umm…hablas ingles?" she asked.When the man just looked confused, she thought about what she'd said."What?Didn't I say it right?"

The medic gave up and made her stay out of the way, which wasn't easy in the cramped space of the ambulance.Avena silently watched the men work on Rowen.

Abruptly, the ambulance jerked to a stop.The doors were slammed open and Avena quickly jumped out and away.The stretcher was taken from the vehicle.She could see that Rowen was breathing—barely—by himself, though a mask was over his nose and mouth.She followed the medics as they rushed him into the hospital.

Someone grabbed her elbow.She shook loose and stayed alongside the stretcher.Doctors were rapidly exchanging information with the medics as they moved into a cubicle.The someone grabbed her arm again."Let me alone!" she cried and tried to jerk free.

"Avena Jameson?"She halted at the sound of her name, but kept her eyes on the boy she'd hopefully saved.The person continued, "Are you Avena Jameson?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that young man?"

"Yes."

"What is his name?"

"Touma.Touma Hashiba.But his friends call him Rowen."

The person called to the doctors and spoke in Japanese.The doctors asked more questions, rushing about without stopping to look at the British girl or her translator.The man asked, "Does he have any allergies?"

"Not that I know of."

"Who are his parents?"

"…"

"Okay._Where_ are his parents?"

Avena turned and looked at the man.He wore the uniform of a Japanese police officer.She replied bluntly, "Dead and currently unavailable."

The officer narrowed his eyes at her."Alright.Is there anyone we can reach?"

"If you'll tell me what they're going to do with Rowen and continue to act as translator, _and_, of course, show me how to work the phone, I'll call anyone who needs to know."

"Fine.For now, go sit in that chair."

Avena glanced back at Rowen.The hospital personnel were now wheeling him towards a door.The officer talked hurriedly to a nurse.Avena looked at the chair he'd pointed her to and dropped into it.She stared at her shoes.

A minute or so later, the officer came back."Miss Jameson?They had to take him into surgery."

"Call me Avena and why surgery?"

The officer sat down beside her."They think that somehow, one of his bones or something has torn a hole in a lung."

"Oh dear…"

"Miss—"

"Avena."

"Avena, I'm Randy Carter.I'm a friend of Mia's."

"Mia's?"

"Yeah.She asked me to be on the lookout for you."

"Oh."

"She also wanted me to take you into custody."

"What?!"

"But right now, I don't think that has top priority.I'm going to have to ask you some questions before you start making phone calls."

"I'll tell you what I'm allowed to."

Randy raised an eyebrow."Okay.First of all…"

* * * * * * * * *

"Hello?"

"Hi, Cye."

"Avena!Where are you?"

"Can I talk to Mia?"

"But—"

"Cye!I want to talk to Mia.Now!"

"Okay…I guess."Cye covered the phone and called, "Mia!Phone!"

Mia tapped him on the shoulder."I'm right here; no need to shout."

"Oh."Cye handed her the phone and sat on the couch.

Mia put the phone to her ear."Hello?"

"Mia, why'd you set the cops on me?"

"Uh…"

"Never mind," Avena said.Mia couldn't think of the last time the girl had sounded so solemn."There's been an accident…"

* * * * * * * * *

"Why can't we go?!"

"Because the roads are frozen!There have been at least five major car accidents in the last fifteen minutes alone and one Ronin in the hospital is more than enough.We're just going to have to wait."

Ryo looked like he'd explode.

Sage picked up a third magazine."You know, Ryo, you get any madder and you could _melt_ the roads."

"Shut up!"

Sage met Ryo's eyes, his face set grimly, and said slowly, "Calm down."

Ryo bit his lip, clenched his fists, and calmed himself a little.

"Could we walk?" Cye asked, immediately seeing the stupidity in his own question.

"No," Mia sighed."We'd be bluer than Rowen's hair by the time we got there."

"Did we call Kento?" Ryo inquired.

"Yes.And you've already asked that twice."

"Oh… Could he get there from his place?"

"No.It's even worse over there.They barely missed the ice storm driving home."

Cye kept glancing at the phone."We can try to call Avena back."

"How?She didn't leave a number," Ryo stated flatly.

Mia grinned."I have Caller ID, baka.How long have you been living here now?"

Ryo scowled."Aw, shut up!"

Cye had dialed the number in.A man answered with, "What?" in an annoyed tone.

"Um, is Avena there?" Cye asked sheepishly.

"Yeah.Who's this?"

"Her cousin."

"Oh, then you're the one to blame.Look, this girl has to be the most aggravating person I've ever known!What were you thinking, letting a girl like this loose?"

"Sir, I believe you should blame my friend Kento for that."

"Yeah, sure.Hold on."

The next voice Cye heard was Avena's."Cye?"

"Hey, there.How are things going?"

"A nurse said that Rowen's still alive.The surgery's going to be going for some time yet, though."

"Well, could you call us every fifteen minutes or so and give us an update?"

"If Randy'll let me."

"Randy?"

"The grumpy guy whose phone I'm using… Cye, he's got me in handcuffs," she whined.

"Why?"

"Because I kept wandering off.He cuffed me to the chair.He's not too nice.Ow!"

"What?"

"He hit me.He says I'm not too nice either."She started laughing.She sounded a bit hysterical.

"Avena, are you okay?"

"I don't know.I feel a bit odd.And my cheek hurts.They gave me stitches for it.And my head hurts, too."

"Maybe you should take a nap."

"Don't start that again!"

"Avena, how'd you cut your cheek?"

"Uh, gotta go!" She hung up.

Cye hung up the phone and sat down."Something is going on besides what she's told us."

"No, duh!" chorused the others.

* * * * * * * * *

Avena awoke with a start.Someone had tapped her arm.She looked at the vaguely familiar person."Who are you?" she asked.

"Randy, remember?"

Avena blinked."…noooo," she said slowly.

Randy looked at her."That's not funny."

Avena looked confused."What do you mean?I don't remember you."

Randy thought of something."What's the date?"

"I don't keep track of that sort of thing usually."

"Okay.What's your full name?"

"Avena May Jameson.Why are you asking me weird questions?"

"When is your birthday?"

"…uh…"She looked blank."I, um, I can't remember."

"Come on.Let's find a nurse.I think you've got a concussion."

Avena let him drag her along by the hand."A cussing _what_?"

* * * * * * * * *

"Excuse me, sir."

"Yes?"

"You Mr. Carter?"

"Yes."

"I tell you tell Jameson-san—"

"It's _Avena_!" the girl interrupted.

"Avena-san," the nurse corrected herself."

"Not Avena-san!Just _Avena_!" Avena exclaimed exasperated.

"I sorry.I not know American custom well.Only say some words."

"That's fine," Randy said.Then he asked in Japanese what it was the nurse was going to say.

When the nurse was finished, he turned to Avena."She said that Rowen is out of surgery.He's breathing with the help of a machine and they really need to know who his parents are.Or can you remember?"

"It was only a mild concussion!I can still remember most things!"

"Well?"

Avena picked at her thumbnail."His mother is dead.His father is…"

"His father is what?"

"I'm not supposed to tell."

"Tell anyway."

"…passed out drunk in their apartment."

"Wait a second… Is that how all this happened?"

"Umm…"

"How did you cut your cheek, kid?"

"A shard of glass from a broken lamp base," she lied, thinking of the shattered furnishing on the floor of the apartment.

"How did the lamp get broken?"

Avena decided to shut her mouth.It was still sore from the cut anyway and giving Rowen mouth to mouth had made it worse and all this talking certainly wasn't helping.Besides, the doctor who'd given her the stitches had said it was probably wise not to talk too much for a while._'Excuses, excuses…'_

"Avena," Randy said in his tough-cop voice, "you _will_ tell me how the lamp got broken, you _will_ tell me whether or not Mr. Hashiba had anything to do with Rowen being here, and you _will_ tell me _now_!"

Avena tried to convince herself that she didn't care about her promise to Rowen.She'd broken dozens of promises to Cye before, and to her brothers._Yes, but that was Cye and Harmon and Kenneth and this is…Rowen… _As she began talking, tears fell from her eyes.And it wasn't because of her cheek.

* * * * * * * * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ryo asked again.

"Yes," the voice on the other end sobbed, belying the statement."Can I talk to Cye, now?"

"Sure.Here he is."Ryo handed Cye the phone and walked to the kitchen.He could hear the Ronin of Trust reassuring his cousin in a soothing voice as he left.

In the kitchen, Mia and Sage were simply sitting at the table.Ryo joined them and sighed."Well, Rowen is out of surgery."

"How is he?" Mia asked.

"They've got him on a machine to help him breathe.He isn't awake.What more is there to know?"

"What about Avena?Has she seen him yet?" Sage asked.

"No.Doctors won't let her.But she's upset about something… She was crying."

"…crying?" Mia asked, stunned.

Ryo nodded.

The three sat there in silence._Avena_…_crying_.It was difficult to comprehend.What could have made Avena cry?

Just then Cye walked in.He was brushing tears from his eyes."Guys…"

Ryo bolted to his feet."What is it?Is it Rowen?" he asked anxiously.

"No," Cye said quietly, composing himself, and now his voice sounded a little angry."It's about his father…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR:

See, I haven't killed him yet, so there's no need to come after me with deadly intent, okay?Sorry 'bout keeping you waiting so long.I got a bit busy with "A Fiery Rain" for a while, and stuff in real life.Yes, this chap.s shorter than the others, but the next couple are going to be a tad on the long side, I'm afraid.However, it should only take a couple to close up the story.

Yeah, anyway…review, please?


	7. Chap. 7

A satisfied Microsoft Office User Normal A satisfied Microsoft Office User 2 275 2001-10-19T01:31:00Z 2001-10-19T01:31:00Z 10 3955 22547 Family 187 45 27689 9.2720 

            "Miss?"  The nurse shook the sleeping girl's shoulder.  "Miss?"

            "It's Avena," said-person slurred sleepily.

            "I say you your friend…" The nurse searched for the word.  "He…he no sleep."

            Avena shot upright in the hard chair.  "Rowen's awake?"

            "Hai," the nurse nodded.

            "What?" Avena asked, confused.

            The nurse's face was the picture of helplessness and frustration, for she knew the word but had always had a hard time remembering the simplest parts of English.  "I not know word.  Gomen."

            "What word?" asked Randy, walking up with a paper cup of coffee.

            "Who are you?" Avena asked him.

            Randy raised his eyebrows.  "Your translator, kid.  Now," he said, "what do I translate?"

            "Hai," the nurse repeated, looking sheepish for her forgetfulness but thankful to have a solution to her lingual problems.

            "She said 'yes', Avena."

            "He is?" Avena's eyes widened in relief.

            "Who's what?" Randy asked.

            "How long've I been asleep?" Avena turned to Randy, a tad excited.  "And you didn't tell me who you are?"

            "I'm Randy Carter, a friend of Mia's, who you seem to have a difficult time remembering considering this is the second time you've forgotten who I am.  And you've been asleep for three hours.  It's four fifteen a.m. now."

            "Can I see Rowen?"

            Randy repeated the question to the nurse, who answered and pointed toward the reception desk.  Randy said, "She says that you have to sign in with the receptionist before they'll consider it."

            "Has he said anything yet?" Avena inquired.

            The nurse said to Randy, "Yes, something about 'not his fault' but that was it."  Then she rushed off.

            Avena rushed to the desk.  "I want to see Rowen Hashiba, please," she said breathlessly.  "And can I talk to a doctor who speaks English?"

            Yawning despite the coffee, Randy translated.  He was going to need a lot of sleep after this.

* * * * * * * * *

            "It is remarkable that he survived as long as he did.  The tear was at least two days old.  It is a miracle."

            Avena agreed.  Rowen was asleep again but he had been awake off and on for the past two hours.  Avena had been at the bedside, waiting for him to be focused enough to know she was there, for an hour and a half.  An English-speaking doctor had only come in the room ten minutes ago.

            "Such a surgery has never been performed before.  Dr. Yajiri is unsure how he did it.  The entire thing is quite amazing…" the doctor informed her.  "However…we do not think he will survive.  Too much has happened to him.  He should not be alive even now… He is lucky to have made it half this far."

            "Yes," said Avena simply.  "Is it still icy out?"

            "Yes.  The roads are still frozen."

            Avena looked directly at the doctor.  "Is Rowen going to die soon?"

            The doctor looked at her with sympathy.  "Yes, most likely.  I am sorry."

            "They won't get here in time.  I'll be the only one here for him."  She wanted to cry over the injustice of it all.

            The doctor seemed to understand.  "Would you like to be alone with him now?"

            "Yes, please."

            As the door closed behind the departing man, Avena looked at Rowen and smiled.  There were a lot of little tubes around him and a breathing mask on his face.  His hair was messier than ever and the color didn't help the appearance.  But he was alive.  Even if it was only for a little while longer, he was alive.

            "You," Avena said confidently, "are going to wake up before you do something stupid like dying.  We're going to talk and I'm going to get the guys on the phone for you."  She abruptly yawned.  "But first, I'm going to take a nap."

            She was asleep five minutes later, her head resting on Rowen's bed.  The sun was coming up in the hospital window, discovering a city covered in ice and frost.  And in the background, the steady _whir-whir_ of the breathing machine counted Rowen's breaths.

* * * * * * * * *

            There was blue.  It was a light and it shone everywhere and it was so _blue_.  Avena heard a funny whirring noise coming from somewhere but mostly she just knew the blue light.

            She knew, somewhere deep inside her, deeper than the place where she'd often retreated in times when life became unbearable, that the light, this blue light, meant life and it was holding Rowen to it.  Like it wouldn't let him go.

            She was dreaming, of course.  She knew it and she'd probably wake up now that she'd realized it.  And sure enough, she could already feel her sleep backing off.

            Shame.  She kind of liked this dream.  Blue was nice.

* * * * * * * * *

            "Hey…hey, you," someone was saying softly in a welcoming tone.  She could feel a hand fingering her hair.  "Welcome back to the world of the living."

            Avena raised her head with an effort.  "Rowen?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

            "Yeah.  Who'd you expect?  The Easter Bunny?" He grinned.

            "You're awake!"

            "Nah, you think?" Rowen said sarcastically.

            Avena grabbed his hand as it toyed with her hair.  She wanted to squeeze it till her hand ached but she held herself back.  "How do you feel?" she asked.

            He slipped her hold and combed her hair with his fingers.  "Good enough to want to play with your hair, apparently.  There's nothing better to do that I can see… Your hair sure is soft."

            "I saw the blue thing on your head," blurted Avena.

            Rowen grinned.  "What, my hair?"

            "No.  On your forehead.  It flashed when I gave you CPR."

            Rowen swallowed, his grin forced now.  "I don't know what you're talking about."

            "Yes, you do.  It means life, doesn't it?"

            He gave up.  "Yes.  Did anyone else see it?"

            "I don't think so.  I was a little out of it.  But what was it?"

            "A kanji.  Can I tell you later?"  He glanced around at the hospital equipment.  "I have a few questions of my own.  For one, what was this doing on my face?" He held up the breathing mask.

            Avena's eyes widened.  "You took it off?  You idiot!  That's what was keeping you breathing!  You should've called a doctor before you took it off!"

            "Avena!" Rowen interrupted.  "How could I call someone with that thing on my face?  And besides, I'm breathing fine.  Now, why would I need breathing assistance anyway?"

            "Cuz you had a tear in your lung.  The doctors said it was a miracle that you were still alive and Randy—"

            "Whoa, whoa.  Okay, start at the beginning."

            So Avena told him the whole story.  She couldn't look him in the eye as she came to the part where she'd told about his father.  But when she did look up at him again, he just smiled sadly.

            "I guess I knew that he'd get caught eventually… I just didn't want it to be my fault…"

            Avena blinked.  "But it _isn't_ your fault!  He's the one who got drunk!"

            "Because my mother died!" screamed Rowen.

            Avena leapt to her feet.  "People!  _DIE!!!_  That's part of life, Rowen!"  She was furious, her face an image of rage.  "Look at Cye!  _His_ father died and he's not like you!  His mother doesn't drink, his sister doesn't mope!"

            Rowen was adamant.  "So?"

            Avena's fists clenched.  "Alright then…"  She sat down and stared at her knees until she could calm herself.  Taking a deep breath, she looked up again.  "Okay," she said, her accent carrying emotion.  "When I was thirteen years old, my best friend went into the school bathroom and shot herself.  Guess who found her?"

            "Avena—" Rowen began, suddenly regretting pushing Cye's cousin to these words.

            "That's right!  Avena found her.  I walked in there and found a puddle of blood and a dead best friend with a gun in her hand.  Now, how do you think that made me feel, Rowen?"

            "I…Ave…"

            "Like hell, Rowen.  Like hell," she growled, leaning down till her face was mere millimeters from his.  "But guess what?"

            "What?" Rowen asked carefully.

            "I got over it.  I hurt and I cried and I got over it.  And now it's your turn, Rowen.  There's more to getting over it than accepting the death.  You have to pull others who were left behind along with you over it.  That means your father.  And if pulling him along means having to get help to do so, well…then that's what you have to do.  You should've turned him in, Rowen."

            "No, I—"

            Avena slapped him.  She was shaking with rage.  "Dammit," she hissed.  "I'll kill him.  That's what I'll do.  I'll kill that bloody bastard and all your problems will be solved."

            Rowen was shocked.  It was common knowledge among the Ronins and Mia that Avena was "slightly disturbed", but none of them, excepting Cye, had ever seen her in one of her 'episodes'.  Apparently, she was experiencing one of them now.  Cye had once explained her episodes were brought on by too much stress or traumatic experiences, and that when she was having one, it was wise to believe almost anything she said and to get her subdued quickly.

            As the British girl stormed around the room, Rowen found and pushed the button beside the bed, the one that summoned a nurse.  A mere minute later, a nurse trotted in.  She looked surprised to see the patient awake and mask-less.  Rowen put a finger to his lips, signaling the nurse to be quiet, and gestured for the woman to come to him.  Glancing nervously at the teenage girl who was stalking back and forth by the window, the nurse came to Rowen's bedside.

            Speaking in Japanese, Rowen said, "Don't startle her.  She's a disturbed young woman but she's also a close friend.  We need to keep her locked up for a little while, preferably with now possible weapons within her reach.  Maybe you could even see if it's possible to give her a sedative or a tranquilizer or something.  Can you do that?"

            The nurse nodded.  "I'll get some help, first… Will you be alright alone with her?"

            "Yes.  Remember to be quiet when you come back."

            The nurse left.  Rowen watched Avena and thoughts spun through his mind.

* * * * * * * * *

            Ryo and Sage gave the car one last shove and then ran to jump in the moving vehicle.  Cye and Mia were already in the front seats and Sage didn't even have his door closed before Mia was speeding out of the drive.  Snow and ice were everywhere, mostly ice, but by now, enough of the roads had melted for vehicular transportation to once again be relatively safe.  It was 10:00 a.m. and they hadn't gotten word from Avena since 5 o'clock.  Cye was in near-panic mode, thinking of all the things that might have happened to his cousin.  Ryo was still mad as hell and Sage was still being unusually quiet.  Kento's part of town was still ala Ice Age so he wasn't going to be able to get anywhere for a while longer.  Randy had called Mia once to say, "Sorry, but I can't stick around any more.  Even off-duty officers are getting called in, so I gotta go to work."

            As Mia hit the turn that led into the city, Sage finally spoke up for the first time in five hours.  "He isn't dead."

            Cye turned around and looked at him, too tired to fully comprehend much of what was said around him.  None of them had slept well, except Mia.  She'd given Sage some pills to help him sleep a little and offered the same to Ryo and Cye, but Wildfire and Torrent were too wired to let the meds work.  "Wha'?" asked Cye.

            "He isn't dead.  We would've known if he died."

            Ryo perked up a little now.  "You're right!  Remember, I knew when Cale and Sekhmet and Kayura died.  If I could feel the Warlords' deaths, Cye, I could definitely feel it if a fellow Ronin died."

            Cye sighed.  No matter how hard he tried to pay attention to what the others said, he just couldn't seem to understand the words.  "Mmm," he responded, deciding that that could reply to almost anything.

            Sage gave the exhausted boy a wry grin, understanding.  "How long till we get there Mia?"

            The woman said absently, "An hour at the most, thirty minutes at the least."

            "Can I try to call the hospital again?" Ryo requested.

            Mia silently tossed him the cell phone.  Ryo dialed the now-familiar number but sighed in disappointment and frustration as an automated electronic response met him.  He handed the phone back.  "Lines are still out."

            For another ten minutes, nothing happened.  Then, Cye simply fell sideways, asleep.  Mia, surprised, glanced down at him and in the split second she did that, the SUV hit an icy pothole.  It spun around so that they were facing the wrong way and the car that had been behind them bumped into their fender.  But that was it and the four people breathed again.  Cye was now _wide_ awake.

            "I hate these bloody roads!" he shouted, blinked, and then calmed down.  "I'm okay now."

            Ryo and Sage burst out laughing.  Mia smiled.

            Seven minutes later, they were moving down the road again.  Sage could tell that everyone was more relaxed now.  Strange how something so tense could loosen them up, almost ironic.  Even he felt some of the tension leave him, though the intense headache he'd developed didn't lessen much.  Now, if Rowen could just hold on a while longer…

* * * * * * * * *

            Ryo stalked up to the desk and began demanding to know where Hashiba Touma was.  Cye wasn't far behind, asking for Avena.  Mia grabbed Ryo and glared at him till he shut up, while Sage gently pushed Cye aside.  Sage got the room number and permission to go there.  But as the group headed for the elevator, another nurse called to them.

            "Which of you is Mouri?"

            "Me!" Cye grabbed the nurse's arm.

            The man smiled soothingly.  "We had to sedate your cousin, sir.  She's been secluded, too.  Hashiba-san told us that was what was usually done with her in these situations."

            Cye nodded hurriedly.  "Uh-huh.  Where is she?"  As the male nurse offered to take him to Avena, Torrent glanced at the others.  They understood and Ryo nodded.  Cye followed the nurse away, asking questions with every step.

            When the remaining three of the group finally reached Rowen's room, they paused outside the door.  Mia watched the boys' faces, the emotions playing across those young, too wise countenances.  It almost broke her heart to see her young friends like this.

            Ryo opened the door.

            A girl sat near the bed, talking about a video game.  At the entrance of group, she sighed and smiled.  "Hey, Touma," she said, "look who's here."

            Rowen opened his eyes, looked at them.  And grinned.

            Ryo was at the bedside in an instant, Sage not far behind.  Mia stood at the foot of the bed calmly and waved at its occupant with a smile.  Rowen acknowledged this with a half-wave of his own, almost laughing.  The girl, a volunteer, stood back and watched.

            "How do you feel?"

            "How long've you been awake?"

            Rowen answered Ryo first, seeing how anxious Wildfire was.  "I feel great, actually.  But Kyoko here says the hospital probably won't release me for another week at least.  Doesn't that suck?"

            Ryo laughed.

            Sage's headache was gradually diminishing.

            "I've been awake for several hours.  Kyoko's been keeping me company.  We were discussing video games when you guys showed up."

            Sage grinned.  "Several hours?  I think that's the earliest you've gotten up for years, Ro."

            At this comment, Rowen's grin shrank.  "No.  I've been up at dawn for a couple weeks now…"

            Ryo was no longer laughing.  "Ro…"

            "Ry, I know I shoulda told you guys about…Dad…but I just…I just couldn't…"

            "We understand, Rowen," said Mia, saving him from having to struggle with an explanation.  "But I'm still disappointed in you about one other thing."

            The teen looked puzzled.  "What?"

            "You never called me back about lunch!"

            Rowen stared at her for a second, then burst out laughing.  He stopped quickly though.  "Owww, that hurts."

            Kyoko spoke up now.  "Excuse me, but I think that you should rest now, Touma.  Your friends can visit more later."

            Rowen sighed.  "Yeah, guess so.  See ya later guys?"

            "You bet!" Ryo assured him and squeezed his hand.  Sage ruffled his hair, evoking a protest.  Mia just smiled.

            Right before Kyoko closed the door behind them, Mia turned around.  "But you still have to have lunch with me," she told him, and then walked away, the door closing after her.

            Rowen laughed.

* * * * * * * * *

            Cye was waiting for them in the lobby.  He had a zombie-like Avena sitting beside him.  Seeing them get off the elevator, he stood up.  "Hey!  How is he?"

            "Good, thank gods," said Sage.  "Awake and ready to go, though he isn't going to be allowed to leave for some time yet."

            "Oh good…" breathed the British boy, relieved.  "I'd go up and see him, but I can't leave Avie and they don't want her up there."

            "Why'd they sedate her, anyway?" asked Ryo.

            Cye rubbed his neck.  "Well, she had one of her episodes.  She's a danger to herself and anyone she doesn't like at the time when she's like that.  Thank God that Rowen remembered what to have done with her.  I should really get her out of here, though."

            Mia nodded and glanced back at the other boys.  They looked exhausted.  "Hmm…well, let's go.  And our first priority is for you all to get some rest."  She led the way back to the SUV.

* * * * * * * * *

            Ryo finally hung up the phone.  "Okay, Kento says he can finally get out of his neighborhood, so he'll go stay with Ro or hang at the hospital or whatever for a few hours."  He stretched a spine-popper and yawned.

            Mia absently handed him a cup of tea.  "Drink this," she commanded.

            Ryo glared at her, muttering something about female control-freaks usurping his authority, but drank the tea.  Cye and Sage were in the living room, watching the news.  Avena was sound asleep, sprawled on the couch with her head in her cousin's lap.  Sage had had the great misfortune of becoming her footrest.  Ryo sat in the armchair.  "Tea tastes kinda weird," he observed.

            Cye nodded and looked at another pair of empty teacups on the coffee table.  Sage said, "Yeah, almost bitter, huh?"

            Cye fell asleep first, then Sage.  Ryo, already, feeling a little bleary, looked at the bottom of his emptied cup.  A strange ooze glazed the insides.  He blinked hazily at Mia, who stood in the doorway.  "Hey…" he yawned.  "You drugged us…" And then he was asleep.

            Mia came all the way into the room now, and started collecting the teacups.  "Well, at least you'll get some rest now," she told the sleeping Ronins, smiling.

* * * * * * * * *

            _Three months later…_

            Rowen screamed, "You asshole!"

            Ryo laughed and danced out of the way again, holding the book just out of Strata's reach.  Rowen's hand pressed his face as the younger teen tried to get to the novel.  Ryo bit one of Rowen's fingers and held the back of the waistband of his friend's jeans to keep him back.

            "Ow!" Rowen jerked his hand away.  "No fair!  Mia, tell him to give it back!"

            "So childish," mumbled Sage from the safety of the sofa.  Two pillows hit him in the face.  "Hey!"

            Ryo and Rowen each tried to grab another pillow, but ended up grabbing the same one.  While each tried to rip the pillow from the other's grip, Sage battered them with the pair they'd thrown at him, face the picture of serenity.

            Ryo dropped the book in the process of defending himself and Rowen lunged for the hardcover, leaving the pillow to the black-haired boy's hands.  Sage and Ryo continued their pillow fight.  Rowen, unnoticed, went to the sofa and found Sage's newspaper.  He rolled it up and slapped the paper across Halo's rear.

            Sage yelped and jumped.  "Hentai!" he accused, now combating both Ryo and Rowen.

            Mia, in her bedroom, typed up the finish of a lesson plan.  "Quiet down in there!" she shouted.  "And clean up that room!  Cye and Kento will be here soon."

            "So?" retorted Ryo.  "The guys'll just start wrestling and make a mess anyway!"

            "And White Blaze is probably gonna join in," added Sage.

            Mia sighed.  "Clean up anyway!"

            "Why should we?"

            "Because, Ryo, you don't want me to throw you out for a week again."

            Ryo immediately started to clean up.

            Only a few minutes later the doorbell rang and the door was bombarded by the pounding of fists.  Sage went to answer it.  He opened the door to Kento and Cye, who nearly hit him by accident as he interrupted their knocking.  Behind them, someone was vigorously rubbing White Blaze's head, the tiger haven risen from a nap on the porch to greet the visitors.  Cye and Kento tried to fit through the door of the same time, which resulted in more fist throwing.  This only ended when someone yanked Cye back.

            "Hello!" sang a familiar voice.

            "Avena?  What're you doing here?" Sage stood back, baffled, while the Brit hauled her cousin in with her.

            "Oh, she just appeared without warning, as usual," Cye informed him, tugging his arm free.

            "Yeah, and she isn't the only stray we picked up today, either."  Kento stepped back outside and returned a moment later with another familiar young woman.  "Look who we found walking in the rain."

            Kyoko blushed and tried to step back out to the porch, but Kento prevented her.  "I'm all wet.  I'll drip all over everything."  She looked apologetic.

            Kento kept his grip on her arm, grinning.  Sage sighed and smiled.  "Just take off your shoes and socks and leave them by the door.  I'll get you a blanket.  What on earth were you doing out in this weather?"

            She ran a hand through her black hair sheepishly.  "Missed the bus again…"

            Kento bellowed, "Ryo, your girlfriend's here!"

            Kyoko immediately started blushing again… Until Ryo ran a pell-mell into the room and grabbed the smaller girl up in a fierce hug, kissing her on both cheeks before he set her down.  "Ryo…" she gasped, blushing furiously.

            The boy grinned and led her away from the front foyer, taking the blanket from Sage's hand and wrapping it around his girlfriend as they went.  Kento and Cye had already made themselves comfortable in the living room, but nowhere did Sage see Rowen or Avena.  "Hey," he said as he sat down, "where'd Ro and Crazy Avie go?"

            "Dunno," Kento shrugged, pushing a videotape into the VCR.  "But it's Rowen's turn."

            Cye blanched.  "I tried to convince her not to pick on you guys anymore, but she just grinned and ignored me."

            "Mmm, well, as long as it's not me," said Sage.

* * * * * * * * *

            _Upstairs – Mia's Grandfather's study…_

            "So how's your dad?"

            Rowen grinned.  "Much better.  They might let him leave the facility in a couple weeks if he keeps up the good behavior."

            "That's great!  And he understands that he was wrong, right?"

            "Yeah.  The psychologists say he subconsciously blamed me for Mom's death."

            "What?  Why?"

            He opened a drawer of a desk and pulled out a wrinkled, stained paper.  "Because of this.  Mom wrote it the day before she got on that plane."  Handing her the paper to her, he sat down in the big leather chair and spun it around.

            Avena smiled at the way he was acting, then read the paper.  "Oh, I see…"

            Rowen nodded.  "Mom was coming to visit me when her plane crashed.  And Dad, well…"

            She sighed.  "Went a little insane."

            He nodded again.

            Avena leaned against the desk.  Rowen had taken the only chair in the room.  "Well, at least he doesn't think that anymore… If they let him out, will you be going back to him?"

            "No."  He spun the chair again.  "My grandfather has legal guardianship of me now.  He's only letting me stay with Mia until the school year is over."

            "Ah.  Do you get to talk to him?  Your dad, I mean."

            He smiled.  "Yep.  Talk to him on the phone every Sunday for an hour.  He spends a lot of time apologizing."

            "That's nice, I guess… Uh, I could've told you before but, well… Nice to meet you, Aerostar."

            Rowen jerked the turning chair to a stop, blinked… "How did you…?"

            "I'm Zanyloon."  She became absorbed with trying to make herself comfortable against the desk.

            He scowled, thinking.  "Well, that explains why Zane—I mean, you—knew things had "gotten better" for me at that second chat after the hospital thing.  But why didn't you tell me sooner?  You just went back to London without saying anything about it."

            Avena crossed her legs, uncrossed them, scooted around.  She couldn't seem to get comfy on this bleeding desk.  "Oh, um, I don't know.  It just never seemed like the right time and we got to be such good online buddies anyway that I figured, why ruin a good thing?"

            Rowen scowled again, but not because he was thinking.  "What do you mean?"

            She shoved her toes into the carpet, refusing to look at him.  "I'm not stupid, Rowen.  I know you guys don't like having me around and I'm _crazy_"—she growled that word—"and people like you don't hang out with people like me and I just thought maybe if you never knew who I was, I could keep being your friend…"

            Strata wanted to sigh but lately, he'd been careful to avoid that expression.  If he showed the slightest indication of being depressed or indifferent, Mia and the guys were all over him with worry.  He'd also learned not to groan or moan, because then they thought he was in pain and went into a frenzy.  Instead he reached out and grabbed Avena's arm, jerking her into his lap.  "Ave, if I didn't want to be around you, would I let you be this close to me?"

            She still avoided looking at him.  "And I broke my promise—" she continued.

            "I'm glad you did; it was best for Dad."

            "—and I snuck into your apartment—"

            "I might have died if you hadn't."

            "—and I made you fall off a roof—"

            "As long as it never happens again, I'll forgive that."

            "—and I'm an idiot about Japanese—"

            "Yeah, I heard that you tried to ask a medic if he spoke English in Spanish.  You could take lessons."

            "—and…I've had a crush on you since Cye introduced us."

            He gaped at her.  "…whoa…"  She didn't look away from her hands in her lap.  Rowen studied her profile in a new light.  Crazy Avie had a crush on him?  _'You're supposed to be a genius, Hashiba.  How could you not notice this?'_

            Avena, meanwhile, was busily giving herself a good mental beating.  _'Shouldn't've said that.  Stupid, stupid, _stupid_!'_  She screwed her eyes shut, furious with herself.  A second later, she opened them wide in surprise.

            Rowen sat back again, avoiding her eyes.  "I-I'm sorry."  He felt heat in his cheeks.  For god's sake, he was a Ronin Warrior!  Why should he be blushing?  It was just a small kiss, nothing to be embarrassed about.

            Avena fumbled for something, _anything_ to say.  The possibility of this happening had never crossed her mind.  It was impossible!  Rowen couldn't possibly like her; she was crazy.  _'Don't question a good thing, idiot.  Take advantage of it!'_  She put her hands on either side of his face, resting her thumbs on his cheekbones.  "Is this some cruel joke?" she whispered.

            He forced himself to stop that damn blushing and look her in the eye.  "No," he said quietly.  "Not a joke.  It's for real.  Are you playing another joke on _me_?"

            In answer, she kissed him as hard as she could, desperate to confirm that this wasn't just another one of those figments of her imagination.  When she broke the kiss, breathless, she couldn't bring herself to stay still. How could she?  This was so amazing, she wanted to get outside and shout for joy or mug Cye or something.  She had to _do_ something.  Avena slid off Rowen's lap and bolted out the door, leaving him stunned and breathless.

            A minute later, he recovered enough to laugh as he heard Cye screaming in protest.  Grinning, he picked up the letter from the desk where Avena had left it.  "So, Mom, guess things are getting better now," he told the paper.  "I love you…See ya later!"  He crumbled the letter, his mother's last words, into a ball and tossed it in the wastebasket across the room.

            Still grinning, his lips still warm from Avena's kiss (_'Sweet loon…')_, he leaned back and spun his chair again.

            …_I've got loads to do before I can leave…Love you lots!_


End file.
